Kita-in is Kawagoe's strongest temple stop. After a fire in the 17th century, parts of Edo Castle were moved here, including rooms linked to Tokugawa Iemitsu and his wet nurse Kasuga no Tsubone. That makes the temple a rare place where you can stand inside surviving domestic architecture from the shogun's castle.
The other draw is the group of stone rakan, disciples of the Buddha, lined up in the temple grounds. They are not solemn identical figures. Each has a different face and posture, and half the fun is finding the one that looks amused, tired, stubborn, or quietly drunk on temple air.