The atmosphere is nice, but the street is short and there aren't that many shops. You can walk around it in about 10 minutes. It's probably best to take a stroll there as an afterthought after visiting Chichibu Shrine.
I enjoyed the steam locomotive ride to Kumagaya Station and got off at Onohata Station.
I strolled along Banba Street looking for lunch. It was past 1:00, so there were lines at some restaurants, but others were past peak hours.
The food stalls looked fun, and they even had Ichiro's Malt shots for sale.
The monuments were fun.
I took a walk to Chichibu Shrine.
Visited on a weekend in July 2025.
Luckily, the timing coincided with the Chichibu Kawase Festival, and we were able to witness the traditional sight of the taiko drumming that echoed from morning until night, and the floats going back and forth.
The Banba Shopping Street holds a Tanabata Festival every year. There are taiko drum performances, ring toss and goldfish scooping (for a fee), and a concert under the night sky. It's a great place to enjoy the cool evening air and take a leisurely stroll.
Just got back from Chichibu. I took the train there early that morning. First, I visited Chichibu Shrine, then strolled around Banba Street. It was already past 11 AM, and most shops weren't open yet—aren't country folk supposed to get up early? Only a few old shops and convenience stores were open. I bought some Japanese sweets and homemade dried persimmons, so it was a decent purchase.
By the way, I want to complain about Chichibu's transportation. It's incredibly inconvenient, directly impacting a tourist's experience. To put it simply, coming from Tokyo, you need to take the Seibu Chichibu Railway. But the terminal station isn't even in the city center, which isn't the main issue. To transfer to the local Chichibu Railway, you have to carry your luggage and walk ten minutes to Mihanada Station. Even then, there might not be a train; it only runs once every half hour. So, once you arrive at Seibu Chichibu, you have to spend another half hour to forty-five minutes transferring. And you need to do this back and forth more than once because you also need to visit the sights! Like me, I only transferred once to visit the area near Chichibu Shrine. The next day, after having lunch at Reikaen Garden, I had to transfer trains at Seibu-Chichibu via Mihanabatake to get to the Ashikabo ice pillars. I was exhausted from all the transfers, not even counting the two train journeys to Nagatoro. Poorly connected railway lines are discouraging tourists!
