Time slip Onihei Edo-dokoro Parking Area

The Onihei Edo-dokoro Parking Area is a rest stop in Hanyu, Saitama Prefecture, on the Tohoku Expressway on the way into Tokyo. It is most commonly called the Hanyu Parking Area despite their best efforts to market it by the name of the character it was called after. Hanyu Parking area is as much a tourist attraction as a rest area. With its Edo period design and ninja show and street performances on the weekend, the Hanyu Parking area has created an added incentive to go by car not train to and from the Tohoku region. The theme of the Edo period goes past the design of the parking area, where the interior keeps with the exteriors image and replicates an edo period shopping area. A lot of the food and souvenirs are also based on commonly served dishes from the Edo period such as Unagi (eel). If you are visiting the parking area, I recommend that you time it for just before dusk so that you can appreciate the detail in the daylight and then witness the charm when it is lit up in the dark. And if you can make it on a weekend you might be able to see one of the Ninja performances and/or street performances. #fallingseason