I wasn’t quite in the mood for a big hike or a long drive, but I still wanted to get out of the house. The cold weather reminded me of the icicles I once saw at Misotsuchi in Chichibu. After looking it up, I found that the “Ashigakubo Icicles” had great access from the station, so I decided to head out and check them out.
Even though the access is good, Chichibu is still a bit of a trek—it takes over an hour from Ikebukuro even if you take the limited express. As I looked out the train window, there wasn’t a speck of snow or ice in sight, so I found myself wondering if there really were any icicles as I stepped off at Ashigakubo Station. There’s a roadside station right by the station, and the ticket booth was just a short walk past that.
The Ashigakubo Icicles are basically man-made, and apparently, they light them up at night too. After a few minutes of walking from the ticket booth along a nice path covered in wood chips, the first thing you see is the “Welcome Icicles.” Since there was no ice or snow until that point, everyone was equally surprised by the ice suddenly appearing before their eyes. I heard a few people saying things like, “It’s even better than last year!” so it seems like there are plenty of regulars.
I didn’t see any shrine nearby, so it felt a little surreal to see this old torii gate standing there so abruptly. Passing through here takes you into the areas named the “Ice Walkway” and the “Majestic Icicles.”
It seems you can catch a glimpse of the Ashigakubo Icicles from the train between Ashigakubo and Yokoze stations on the Seibu Chichibu Line. I heard that you can even see the illuminated icicles from the train at night.
The highlight of the Ashigakubo Icicles is definitely this area, the “Majestic Icicles.” It looks like they spray water over a wide area to create them. It wasn’t actually that cold the day I visited, but for this much ice to form, it must get incredibly chilly in the mornings and at night…
That said, compared to the Misotsuchi Icicles, where you have natural icicles forming beautiful clusters along the river, Ashigakubo felt much more “hand-crafted” overall. If you look at each icicle individually, they are beautiful and have interesting shapes, and I imagine they take on a different kind of beauty when lit up. However, seeing the whole thing in the daylight, it felt a bit flat and white. I guess this is a matter of personal preference.
At the Hospitality Plaza, they were giving out amazake made with local Chichibu sake lees and black tea from Yokoze town. They had a wood-burning stove there too, and everyone was gathered around to warm up. The piping hot amazake was delicious.
On the way back, I was thinking of not returning to Ashigakubo Station, but instead walking along the mountain trails towards Chichibu, maybe stopping at a hot spring on the way. However, I didn’t have any of my hiking gear with me today—not even bear spray—so when I saw that big “Beware of Bears” sign, I lost my nerve and decided to just head back to the station. A bit of a shame…
“, “slug”: “ashigakubo-icicles-visit” }
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