Chichibu Pilgrimage Circuit
The 34 Kannon Sacred Sites (temples enshrining Kannon Bodhisattva ) scattered in Chichibu City, Yokoze machi, Ogano machi and Minano machi are called “Chichibu Fudasho”(Chichibu Pilgrimage Circuit )”, and are included in the Japan 100 Kannon Pilgrimage along with 33 sites in Saigoku and 33 sites in Bando.
Over the past two years, we’ve started planning our trips around Japan’s sightseeing trains and then arranging the rest of the itinerary around them. For those of us who don’t drive, it’s an especially convenient and comfortable way to travel.
We were lucky enough to book the only sightseeing train that runs from Chichibu to Tokyo, the "52 Seats of Happiness," for Sunday, 2026/06/07 at 4:00 PM, departing Chichibu for Shinjuku. Since we wanted to make it a day trip and also choose the French dinner service with live onboard music, this is the itinerary we ended up with:
At 9:00 in the morning, we took the Laview train from Ikebukuro Station, which first launched in March 2019. The ride took about 70 minutes. As soon as we arrived in Chichibu and exited the station, we saw the hot spring festival collaboration with Beitou in Taiwan. Right next to it was an area filled with all kinds of souvenirs and food.
About a five-minute walk away is Chichibu’s most famous ramen shop, and my personal number one, "Chindatsu." After a satisfying meal, we strolled through the thoughtfully designed streets. The shops along the way were all decorated in such a warm and charming style. In about 15 minutes, we reached Chichibu Shrine. It shares the cultural motif of the three cute monkeys with Nikko Toshogu Shrine, but its traditional shrine architecture paired with brighter colors gives it a very different feel.
After soaking in the spiritual atmosphere, we passed a supermarket that was amazing for shopping, then headed to the hot spring facility next to the station. The large public bath overlooks the mountains, and there are also stone slabs where you can lie down and relax, which was perfect for easing the fatigue from walking 20,000 steps a day over the past few days.
The "52 Seats of Happiness" train is arranged like a French restaurant, and the meal was made with fresh, delicious ingredients. The authentic French sauces were impressively well done, and the live violin performance by a highly skilled musician was the perfect finishing touch to this trip.