is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

in western

Shizuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,555,818 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Pref ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. , the city had an estimated population of 117,925 in 45,519 households. The total area of the city is .

Geography

Kakegawa is in the coastal plains of southwest Shizuoka Prefecture. It is bordered to the south by the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

, and extends for approximately 30 kilometers north-south by 16 kilometers east-west.

Surrounding municipalities

*Shizuoka Prefecture ** Fukuroi ** Kikugawa **

Mori Mori is a Japanese and Italian surname. It is also the name of two clans in Japan, and one clan in India. Italian surname * Camilo Mori, Chilean painter * Cesare Mori, Italian "Iron Prefect" * Claudia Mori, Italian actress, singer, televisio ...

** Omaezaki ** Shimada

Demographics

Like most of Japan, Kakegawa's population is almost exclusively Japanese. However, Kakegawa has a noticeable ''Nikkei'' (particularly, South American) population and it is more common to find signs written in Portuguese than in English. Per Japanese census data, the population of Kakegawa has been increasing over the past 50 years.

Climate

The city has a climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and relatively mild winters (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfa''). The average annual temperature in Kakegawa is 16.1 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2100 mm with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 27.1 °C, and lowest in January, at around 5.8 °C.

History

The Kakegawa area has been regional commercial center within

Tōtōmi Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today western Shizuoka Prefecture.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tōtōmi''" in . Tōtōmi bordered on Mikawa Province, Mikawa, Suruga Province, S ...

since at least the

Kamakura period The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...

, but developed as a

castle town A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, ...

under the

Imagawa clan was a Japanese samurai clan that claimed descent from the Seiwa Genji by way of the Kawachi Genji. It was a branch of the Minamoto clan by the Ashikaga clan. Origins Ashikaga Kuniuji, grandson of Ashikaga Yoshiuji, established himself in ...

, whose headquarters was in neighboring

Suruga Province was an Provinces of Japan, old province in the area that is today the central part of Shizuoka Prefecture. Suruga bordered on Izu Province, Izu, Kai Province, Kai, Sagami Province, Sagami, Shinano Province, Shinano, and Tōtōmi Province, Tōtōm ...

Kakegawa Castle is a ''hirayama''-style Japanese castle. It was the seat of various ''fudai daimyō'' clans who ruled over Kakegawa Domain, Tōtōmi Province, in what is now central Kakegawa, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Background Kakegawa Castle is located a ...

was built by

Asahina Yasuhiro Asahina (written: or ) is a Japanese surname, which means "sunny place". Notable people with the surname include: People *, a Japanese clan during the Sengoku period *, Japanese actress and model *, Japanese voice actress *, Japanese long-distance ...

, a retainer of

Imagawa Yoshitada was the father of the famed Imagawa Ujichika and the 9th head of the Imagawa clan. Yoshitada spent most of his time invading Tōtōmi Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today western Shizuoka ...

, in the Bunmei era (1469–1487). The castle later fell into the hands of the

Tokugawa clan The is a Japanese dynasty which produced the Tokugawa shoguns who ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868 during the Edo period. It was formerly a powerful ''daimyō'' family. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and were a branch of ...

, but was then given to

Toyotomi clan The was a Japanese clan that ruled over the Japanese before the Edo period. Unity and conflict The most influential figure within the Toyotomi was Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the three "unifiers of Japan". Oda Nobunaga was another primary ...

retainer Yamauchi Kazutoyo in 1580. After the establishment of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

Kakegawa Domain was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. The domain was centered at Kakegawa Castle in Tōtōmi Province, in what is now the city of Kakegawa, Shizuoka.

was created, and ruled by numerous '' fudai''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

. The area prospered during the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, as the Tōkaidō highway connecting

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

with

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

passed through Kakegawa, whose post stations included Nissaka-shuku and Kakegawa-juku. Neighboring Yokosuka Domain, a smaller '' fudai'' holding, was also located within what are now the city limits of Kakegawa. After the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

, Kakegawa was made part of the short-lived Hamamatsu Prefecture in 1871, which merged with Shizuoka Prefecture in 1876. Kakegawa Town was created in the cadastral reform of April, 1891, four years after the opening of Kakegawa Station on what later became the

Tōkaidō Main Line The Tōkaidō Main Line () is one of the most important railway corridors in Japan, connecting the major cities of Tokyo and Kobe via Shizuoka (city), Shizuoka, Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka. The line, with termini at Tokyo Station, Tokyo and Kōbe St ...

railway. The town expanded steadily over the years, annexing neighboring villages and towns in Ogasa District, and was elevated in status of that of a city in 1954. On April 1, 2005, the towns of Daitō and Ōsuka (both from Ogasa District) were merged into Kakegawa.

Government

Kakegawa has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

city legislature of 30 members.

Economy

Kakegawa has a mixed economy. It serves as a regional commercial center for west-central Shizuoka Prefecture. In the agricultural sector, production and processing of

green tea Green tea is a type of tea made from the leaves and buds of the '' Camellia sinensis'' that have not undergone the withering and oxidation process that creates oolong teas and black teas. Green tea originated in China in the late 1st millenn ...

predominates. The city is surrounded by

fields and is known for its high quality tea. Other crops include cantaloupe, tomatoes, strawberries and roses. In terms of industrial production, Kakegawa has several light industry industrial complexes. Major products include telecommunications equipment and electronics, cosmetics, automotive components and musical instruments.

Education

* Tokyo Women's Medical University - Kakegawa campus *Kakegawa has 23 public elementary schools, and nine public middle schools operated by the city government and four public high schools operated by the Shizuoka Prefectural Board of Education. The prefecture also operates two special education schools for the handicapped. The city formerly hosted a Brazilian school, a primary school called Centro Educacional Sorriso de Criança.

Transportation

Railway

Central Japan Railway Company is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu (Nagoya) region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and occasionally as JR Tokai (). The term ''Tōkai'' refers to the southern portion of Central Japan, ...

** *

Tōkaidō Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed rail line that is part of the nationwide Shinkansen network. Along with the San'yō Shinkansen, it forms a continuous high-speed railway through the Taiheiyō Belt, also known as the Tokaido corridor. Opening in 19 ...

* Tenryū Hamanako Railroad Tenryū Hamanako Line **

Highway

* Tōmei Expressway * Shin-Tōmei Expressway * *

Local attractions

* Ananaikyo headquarters *

, located only a few hundred meters from Kakegawa Station
Kakegawa Kacho-en
which hosts a large variety of bird and plant species in a greenhouse-enclosed private garden. * Kotonomama Hachiman-gu, the ''

ichinomiya is a Japanese language, Japanese historical term referring to the Shinto shrines with the highest rank in a Provinces of Japan, province. Shrines of lower rank were designated , , , and so forth.''Encyclopedia of Shinto'' ''Ichi no miya'' retr ...

'' of

. * Takatenjin Castle ruins, a National Historic Site * Wadaoka Kofun group, a National Historic Site * Yokosuka Castle, a National Historic Site

Sister cities

Kakegawa is twinned with: * Corning, United States, since 1987 * Eugene, United States, since 1979 *

Hoengseong County Hoengseong County () is a county located in southwestern Gangwon Province, South Korea, bordering Pyeongchang County to the east, Yangpyeong County, Gyeonggi Province to the west, Hongcheon County to the north, and the city of Wonju and Yeongwol ...

, South Korea, since 2001 * Ōshū, Japan, since 1985 *

Pesaro Pesaro (; ) is a (municipality) in the Italy, Italian region of Marche, capital of the province of Pesaro and Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the ...

, Italy, since 2019 *

Rize Rize (; ; ; ka, რიზე}; ) is a coastal city in the eastern part of the Black Sea Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Rize Province and Rize District.Yoshinobu Ishikawa, politician *

Ichiki Kitokurō Baron was a Japanese statesman. He served as Minister of Education (1914), Home Minister (1915), Imperial Household Minister (1925), and President of the Privy Council (1934–1936). Biography Ichiki was born in what is now Kakegawa, Shizu ...

, politician *

Kenya Matsui is a Japanese football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally m ...

, professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player *

Satoru Mizushima is a Japanese filmmaker. Early life Mizushima graduated from Waseda University majoring in German literature. Career Mizushima is the main host of the right-wing Japanese media organization, Channel Sakura, which maintains an active YouT ...

, filmmaker * Hajime Moriyasu, former professional

player, current manager of the

Japan national football team The , also known by the nickname , represents Japan in men's international Association football, football. It is controlled by the Japan Football Association (JFA), the governing body for football in Japan. Prior to the late 1980s, Japan's nat ...

* Yukie Osumi, metalsmith and Living National Treasure of Japan * Shunpei Uto, Olympic swimmer * Yoshioka Yayoi, physician, educator * Hiroshi Suzuki, professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Cities in Shizuoka Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan