Day 21: Kumagaya - Omiya

Distance covered: 35.9km
Weather: Fine

We breakfasted at 6.30am. It was bread and coffee only, so Erik, who needs his protein and vegetables, brought down a salad and egg roll he'd bought the night before and proceeded to eat it with a teaspoon, which was quite entertaining.

We set off around 7.55am. The weather was perfect (not a cloud in the sky) and the scenery surprisingly pleasant. Soon after leaving the city of Kumagaya we climbed up onto a river embankment and were surprised to see a snow-covered Mount Fuji in the distance.

The next post-town (Konosu) was 15.6km away, so we had lunch there at a Gusto chain restaurant. In the afternoon the landscape became less and less rural. We spent much of the time walking along a narrow road next to the main highway, often with not much room between us and the traffic.

We had a break for coffee and cake before making our final push into the old post-town of Omiya. Omiya grew into a major city with its own Shinkansen station after the war, eventually merging with two nearby cities to become part of Saitama city, the newly designated capital of Saitama prefecture and home to the John Lennon Museum.

Arriving in Omiya was like arriving on a different planet after spending so long walking through rural Japan. The flash new buildings and flash young women in boots and miniskirts reminded us we were just a day's journey from Tokyo. We even passed a bunch of ignorant gaijin, one of whom felt obliged to comment on our dress sense. He'd probably never walked more than a kilometer in his life. Loser!

Shortly before reaching Omiya station I saw a giraffe.

Omiya station was huge. We asked at the tourist information desk for directions to our hotel, which was about five minutes walk away. We checked in at around 5pm and then went back to the station area for dinner. We were a bit overwhelmed by all the bars and restaurants, and ended up at an Asian all-you-can-eat buffet place that wasn't so good (expensive, a bit gloomy inside, lots of dishes "sold out"). Not such a great choice for our last evening meal together. Never mind. One more day and we could proudly boast, "We've walked the Nakasendo from Kyoto to Tokyo."