You moved to Saitama because the rent made sense and the train to Tokyo was easy. Maybe you teach English at a school in Omiya, maybe you commute into the city every morning, maybe your partner's job brought you here. Either way, you've probably noticed the strange part: you pass hundreds of people at Omiya Station every day, and yet there's nobody you could text on a Saturday to grab dinner.
That's a really common Saitama experience, and it doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong. It just means Saitama works differently from Tokyo or Osaka. This guide covers how to make friends in Saitama in 2026, with the areas worth your time, the organizations that actually run events for foreign residents, and a simple plan for your first month.
The biggest reason is the commute. A huge share of people in Saitama work or study in Tokyo. They leave early, come home late, and do most of their drinking and socializing in the city. Home is where they sleep. Foreign residents often live the same way, with coworkers and friends who are all an hour away on the train.
The second reason is that there's no obvious center. Tokyo has Roppongi and Shibuya, places everyone knows as international hangouts. Saitama is more scattered. Omiya, Urawa and Kawagoe each have their own small scene, and none of them is the place. If you've ever searched "Saitama expat community" and come up mostly empty, that's why.
The third reason is that tourists and residents mix. Kawagoe's old warehouse district gets plenty of visitors from abroad, but someone on a day trip isn't going to be around next week.
Here's the upside, though. Once you build one entry point close to home, Saitama gets much easier. International associations, pubs, universities and community classes are all within a few train stops. You don't have to go into Tokyo to have a social life.
The vibe changes a lot from one area to the next. The best choice is usually whatever sits near your home or on your commute, because that's the place you'll actually keep going back to.
Omiya is Saitama's biggest nightlife and shopping area. On the east side, streets like Minami-Ginza and Omiya Ichibangai are packed with izakaya and bars. The west side is more offices and hotels, around Sonic City. Omiya is also a major shinkansen stop for lines heading north, so the station is constantly busy.
What makes Omiya useful is how many places you can drop into after work. Even if you commute to Tokyo, getting off at Omiya on the way home gives you a weeknight social life without the late train back from the city.
A short walk from the east exit, the long tree-lined approach to Omiya Hikawa Shrine runs toward Omiya Park. Walking it is one of the easiest "second hangout" ideas in the city, the kind of low-pressure plan you suggest to someone you've met once or twice.
It also works the other way. Plenty of people who've lived in Omiya for a while still haven't walked it. If a Japanese neighbor offers to show you around, say yes.
Urawa is calmer, home to the prefectural and city government offices. If you'd rather meet people in the daytime than at a bar, Urawa might suit you better than Omiya. The Saitama City international exchange center sits right by the east exit of Urawa Station, and the Saitama Prefecture international association is nearby in Kita-Urawa.
Urawa is also a football town. On Urawa Reds game days the whole area feels different, and if you follow football, that's an easy conversation starter with locals.
Right next to Omiya, Saitama-Shintoshin is where you'll find Saitama Super Arena. Big concerts and sports events bring in crowds, including visitors from abroad. One event won't build a friendship on its own, but sharing a favorite band or team is a great reason to swap contacts.
Kawagoe is one of the most visited places in Saitama for travelers from overseas, with its old clay-walled warehouse streets and the Toki no Kane bell tower. Weekends there get busy.
Kawagoe isn't where you'll meet long-term friends among the tourists, but it's the perfect place to invite someone. "Want to go eat our way around Kawagoe sometime?" is an invitation almost nobody turns down. Kawagoe City also runs its own international exchange center with Japanese classes.
If you want to meet people without alcohol involved, start with the international exchange center run by the Saitama Tourism and International Relations Bureau (STIB). It's on the 9th floor of the Com Naree building by the east exit of Urawa Station. They run Japanese courses, training for volunteers who introduce Japanese culture, and events for foreign residents.
In autumn 2026 their site was listing things like volunteer roles for a Japanese speech contest and a short course on Indian culture. They sometimes host casual conversation salons too, so check the center's website for the current schedule.
Saitama City holds the International Fureai Fair every year, an event aimed at bringing foreign residents and local people together. In 2026 it took place on October 11 at the plaza by the west exit of Urawa Station, with booths about sister cities abroad, a market of food and crafts from around the world, and games for foreign residents and locals to play together.
Festival energy makes it much easier to talk to whoever's standing next to you. A good move is to find a community group's booth that interests you, chat with the people running it, and then show up to that group's regular activities. That's how a one-day event turns into something ongoing.
For something more personal, look at the Saitama International Association, based in Kita-Urawa. It runs volunteer registration, international fairs, and recruits host families for homestay and home visit programs for international students and other visitors. In autumn 2026 it was looking for host families for November and December programs.
Sharing a home-cooked meal together builds a kind of closeness that an hour in a cafe rarely does. If you live in Saitama with your family, this one is especially worth a look.
If you want to see the same people every week, this is the strongest option. Japanese classes for foreign residents across Saitama rely on volunteers, and the prefecture and the Saitama International Association run training sessions for them. In 2026 there were sessions in Kawagoe in August and at Omiya Sonic City in September.
Ask your city's international association about classes near you and whether they need volunteers. Because you're seeing the same faces every week, the teacher and learner roles tend to fade and you end up just being friends.
If you're looking for a bar in Omiya where foreigners hang out, the obvious first stop is HUB Omiya Higashiguchi, a British-style pub chain branch near the east exit. It shows live sports, so on nights with big football or rugby games you can end up cheering at the same screen as a table of strangers.
To find other spots, look on Google Maps for places with lots of English-language reviews. Then pick one and stick with it. Go early on a weeknight, a few times in a row. Once the staff and the regulars recognize you, introductions start to happen on their own.
Saitama University, in Sakura Ward, has international students from around the world. Most campus exchange events are for enrolled students, but STIB has run community welcome gatherings where the university also recruited participants.
As an outsider, your best way in is through events like those and the university festivals that are open to the public. Meet one international student, then their friends, and your circle grows from there.
If event dates never fit your schedule, or you're commuting to Tokyo every weekday, a map app that shows people nearby fills the gap. You can reach out when you actually have time, to people around you who are also looking for friends. More on that below.
For nightlife, start on the east side of Omiya. Use HUB Omiya Higashiguchi as a base and look for places around Minami-Ginza and Omiya Ichibangai with lots of English reviews. Urawa and Kawagoe have bars too, but for meeting people at night, Omiya is the easiest.
For daytime and alcohol-optional options, there are four main routes: the STIB international exchange center in Urawa, volunteering or home visits with the Saitama International Association in Kita-Urawa, community Japanese classes, and festivals like the International Fureai Fair. Searching "Saitama" or "Omiya" on Meetup or Facebook groups sometimes turns up gatherings announced in English, too.
Week 1: Check the STIB site, the Saitama International Association site, and your own city's international association. Pick one gathering you can realistically attend. Save a few Omiya spots with lots of English reviews.
Week 2: Go to that gathering once. On your way home from work, stop by one of the pubs or cafes you saved.
Week 3: Go back to the same gathering and the same place. Say hi to someone you talked to last time.
Week 4: Invite someone you clicked with for a walk down the Hikawa Shrine approach or a snack crawl in Kawagoe.
The classic mistake is to keep doing all your socializing in Tokyo and nothing at home. Tokyo has more events, sure, but the late train back makes it hard to keep going. Pick one local place and commit. That's the single best tip for making friends in Saitama.
A map-based app like SewaYou fits Saitama well precisely because the international scene is spread out across different stations. Open the map, see who's around your home or office and also looking for friends, Japanese locals and other internationals alike, and suggest a coffee near Omiya Station on your own schedule.
And it isn't limited to your neighborhood. SewaYou shows people anywhere in the world on the same map. You can make friends online with people in a country you're curious about without any travel plans, or connect with someone before they move to Japan or before your own next trip.
Make Japanese Friends On a Live World Map
If you're comparing options, our guide to the best apps for making international friends is a good place to start.
Where can I meet people in Omiya?
At night, the east side of Omiya Station is the easiest place to start, with pubs like HUB Omiya Higashiguchi and bars with lots of English reviews. Without alcohol, the STIB international exchange center in Urawa and Saitama International Association events are reliable choices.
Are there bars in Omiya where foreigners hang out?
Yes. HUB Omiya Higashiguchi, near the east exit, often gets lively on nights with live sports. Beyond that, look around Minami-Ginza and Omiya Ichibangai for places with English reviews, then choose one and keep going back.
Are there a lot of foreigners in Omiya?
Omiya Station is a major shinkansen terminal, so you'll see plenty of people from abroad around the station. But seeing people and becoming friends with them are two different things. What matters is finding a place where you'll meet the same people again and again, like an association event or a regular pub.
What international events are there in Saitama?
The big ones are Saitama City's International Fureai Fair, courses and events at the STIB international exchange center, and the Saitama International Association's international fair and home visit programs. Kawagoe has its own international exchange center as well, so check your city's website too.
Do I need to speak Japanese to make friends in Saitama?
No, but it helps. You'll find English speakers at pubs and some community events, and Japanese locals at exchange events are often happy to try English. Even basic Japanese opens a lot more doors, especially in community classes and with neighbors.
Saitama is a place where you'll pass people from all over the world every day, yet the moments that turn into friendship can be hard to find. Combine an international association event, a weekly volunteer role, one pub in Omiya, and outings to Hikawa Shrine or Kawagoe, and a real circle of friends starts to form.
Looking for friends in Saitama? SewaYou is a map-based friendship app for finding people nearby and anywhere in the world. Meet locals and other internationals around Omiya or Urawa for a coffee or a shrine walk, or make friends online with people in a country you've always wanted to know, all from home. Download SewaYou and start building your Saitama circle today.
Looking at another city? See our guide to making friends by city.
