We went to the Kawasaki Citizens' Festival 2026: parking and bicycle parking, the five plazas, grilled nodoguro, skewers, strawberry daifuku and fun bikes

The 47th Kawasaki Citizens' Festival runs for three days around Fujimi Park until Sun, Nov 1. Our editorial team walked around on the afternoon of the second day, Sat, Oct 31. Opening hours and the full program are in our guide to the festival.

Parking is full; bike parking closes at 4:45 p.m.

According to the official guide, there is no parking for the festival.

There was a place at the venue to park bicycles and motorbikes, mostly electric bikes with child seats, so many families seem to come by bike. The thing to watch is the rule on the notice at the entrance:

• Take bicycles and motorbikes out by 4:45 p.m.
• After that, the parking area is locked and vehicles are moved to the place shown on the notice's map.

The festival ends at 4:30 p.m., so if you stay to the end, you only have 15 minutes.

Many bicycles were also parked along the sidewalk. There are hourly parking lots nearby too, such as the one at the Grand Bowl bowling alley, but when we passed around 3 p.m. it was already full.

Rather than waiting for a space, going by train or bus is the surer choice.

• On foot: About 16 minutes from JR Kawasaki Station (North Exit) or Keikyu Kawasaki Station.
• By bus: From the East Exit bus terminal of JR Kawasaki Station, get off at "Culttz Kawasaki/Fujimi Park." City buses Kawa 04, 05, 07, 10, 13 and 15 (stops 11–15), or Rinko buses Kawa 02 and 03 (stops 16, 17 and 20).

How to get around the five plazas

The venue is large and split into five plazas. Walking from JR Kawasaki Station, you reach the Entrance Plaza first. Based on the map in the leaflet handed out at the festival, here is how it is divided.

If you are there to eat, the quickest route is the Entrance Plaza, with food from around Japan, plus the Keirin Plaza and Fujimi Baseball Ground Plaza, which have the most stalls. With children, the Stadium Plaza (unicycle experience) and the "fun bikes" inside the velodrome are good picks. Trash goes to the four "eco stations" at the venue, sorted by type.

Festival stalls, a haunted house and a stage

The Fujimi Baseball Ground Plaza is the festival stall corner, with familiar stalls like yakitori, karaage, frankfurters, grilled squid and chocolate bananas. It was sunny, and the place was full of families and teenagers.

There was even a big haunted house in front of the neighboring Fujimi Junior High School, with groups of teenagers waiting their turn.

On the stage, a group in matching costumes was mid-performance, and passers-by stopped to watch.

Grilled nodoguro from Nagaoka: ¥1,100 a skewer

The Entrance Plaza is where local governments from around Japan sell their specialties. There were lines at stalls like "Yamagata's soul food, Japan's No. 1 imoni stew" and "Shirakawa: farming and food" from Shirakawa, Fukushima.

Our goal was the tent from Nagaoka, Niigata, with salt-grilled nodoguro and ayu, plus highballs and lemon sours at ¥600.

The skewers stand around a charcoal fire, so you can smell them before you reach the tent.

We had one fresh off the grill for ¥1,100. That is a splurge by festival standards, but for a "phantom luxury fish" it is hard to resist. It was smaller than we expected and fairly bony, but the flesh was nicely salted, and picking it off the bones bit by bit was part of the fun. Next to them, ayu sweetfish covered in salt were grilling too.

Skewers, strawberry daifuku and hashimaki in the Keirin Plaza

White tents stretch along the front of the big Kawasaki Keirin (velodrome) stands. Lots of families were eating on the steps of the stands, which makes it easy to sit down right after you buy something.

First up: "salted tongue skewers" and "harami skewers," both ¥300 each.

The tongue turned out to be pork tongue, and the harami was chicken. Not quite the beef you might picture, but the seasoning was good and made us want a beer.

For something sweet, there was a tent with "limited-time strawberry daifuku (smooth red bean paste)" and "nama dorayaki (chunky red bean paste and whipped cream)." Around 4 p.m., "time service" signs went up and both dropped to ¥150. Chocolate bananas were ¥300 each.

We grabbed two strawberry daifuku without hesitating.

The mochi is soft, like it was just pounded. Bite in, and the gently sweet strawberry meets a not-too-sweet red bean paste. There is just enough bean paste, so the strawberry stays the star. At ¥150, we regretted not buying one more.

There was also a "hashimaki" stall: okonomiyaki rolled around a pair of disposable chopsticks. Five kinds (plain, mentaiko mayo, cheese, fried egg and green onion mayo), all ¥500.

We picked mentaiko mayo. The verdict: it never lets you down. Sauce, mayo, mentaiko and bonito flakes is a combination you cannot get wrong, and rolling it around chopsticks so you can carry it is pure festival wisdom. No surprises, but no misses either. If you cannot decide in the crowd, grab one of these.

Kids can ride "fun bikes" on the velodrome track

Inside the velodrome, children can ride "fun bikes" (omoshiro jitensha). Riding unusual bicycles inside the track where racers usually compete was a big hit.

Each session takes the first 35 people and lasts 25 minutes. Tickets for sessions 1–4 are handed out from 10 a.m., and for sessions 5–9 from 1 p.m.

Session	Tickets handed out	Ride time
1	10 a.m.	10:30–10:55
2	10 a.m.	11:00–11:25
3	10 a.m.	11:30–11:55
4	10 a.m.	13:15–13:40
5	1 p.m.	13:45–14:10
6	1 p.m.	14:15–14:40
7	1 p.m.	14:45–15:10
8	1 p.m.	15:15–15:40
9	1 p.m.	15:45–16:10

When we looked, almost every session had a "tickets gone" label. If your child wants to ride, aim for 10 a.m. or 1 p.m. when tickets start.

After 4 p.m., items run low and prices drop

After 4 p.m., more stalls run low or start discounting. That was exactly when the strawberry daifuku dropped to ¥150.

But popular items sell out before then. We wanted "monja spring rolls," but they were gone by the time we arrived. If there is something you really want, go early.

What visitors posted on Threads

Other visitors posted on Threads too: snacking on imoni and obanyaki, bone-in frankfurters, a Halloween-decorated city bus on display, and more.

The posts are shown using the official Threads embed (if a post is deleted, it disappears here too). If you would like your post removed, please contact us via the contact page and we will remove it right away.

Last day, Sun, Nov 1: Sanrio shows and more

On the last day, Sun, Nov 1, there are shows with popular Sanrio characters (from 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.) and a meet-and-greet (from 1:30 p.m.) on the field of Fujitsu Stadium Kawasaki. Omusubi Cafe Salala's SUKIYAKI rice balls are sold only on that day (details in our guide).