My friend from Hong Kong lives here. It's pretty far out there, from the city proper. But it's also pretty cheap to live, and there is a decidedly "spread out" feel to it. If you mainly spend your time in Tokyo, you may not have any idea what I'm talking about. It reminds me a little of South Carolina, the sky is a little bigger this far from the metropolis.
Like most of Tokyo, around the station, there are restaurants, a supermarket and the usual fare. Hanakoganei actually has a pretty decent website, here. My favorite thing about this stop is there is a huge radio tower near my friends house. The towers lights change color depending on the weather forecast. If it's soft white, that means tomorrow will rain, blue is cloudy, green is sunny. And Japan's weather forcasting is pretty accurate. You can see this tower for miles at night, so you can look out the window, and know what you are in for the next morning.