Kakegawa, Shizuoka

Kakegawa 掛川市
City
Kakegawa Castle
Flag Seal
Location of Kakegawa in Shizuoka Prefecture
Kakegawa
Coordinates: 34°46′7.3″N 137°59′54.3″E / 34.768694°N 137.998417°ECoordinates: 34°46′7.3″N 137°59′54.3″E / 34.768694°N 137.998417°E
Country	Japan
Region	Chūbu (Tōkai)
Prefecture	Shizuoka Prefecture
Government
•  – Mayor	Saburo Matsui (since April 2009)
Area
• Total	265.69 km^2 (102.58 sq mi)
Population (September 2015)
• Total	113,852
• Density	429/km^2 (1,110/sq mi)
Time zone	Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
Symbols
• Tree	Sweet osmanthus
• Flower	Chinese bellflower
• Bird	Japanese bush-warbler
Phone number	0537-21-1111
Address	1-1-1, Nagaya, Kakegawa-shi, Shizuoka-ken 436-8650
Website	www.city.kakegawa.shizuoka.jp

Kakegawa City Office

Kakegawa (掛川市 Kakegawa-shi) is a city in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

As of September 2015, the city had an estimated population of 113,852 and a population density of 429 persons per km². The total area was 265.69 square kilometres (102.58 sq mi).

Geography

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

Surrounding municipalities

• Shizuoka Prefecture
  • Fukuroi
  • Shimada
  • Mori
  • Kikugawa
  • Omaezaki

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.

History

The Kakegawa area has been regional commercial center within Tōtōmi Province since at least the Kamakura period, but developed as a castle town under the Imagawa clan, whose headquarters was in neighboring Suruga Province. Kakegawa Castle was built by Asahina Yasuhiro, a retainer of Imagawa Yoshitada, in the Bunmei era (1469–1487). The castle later fell into the hands of the Tokugawa clan, but was then to Toyotomi clan retainer Yamauchi Kazutoyo in 1580. After the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, Kakegawa Domain was created, and ruled by numerous fudai daimyō. The area prospered during the Edo period, as the Tōkaidō highway connecting Edo with Kyoto 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, 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 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.

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 predominates. The city is surrounded by green tea fields and is known for its high quality tea. Other crops include cantelope, 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 elementary schools, nine middle schools and four high schools, as well as two special education schools. It formerly hosted a Brazilian school, a primary school called Centro Educacional Sorriso de Criança.^[1]

Transportation

Railway

• JR Central – Tōkaidō Shinkansen
• JR Central – Tōkaidō Main Line
  • Kakegawa
• Tenryū Hamanako Railroad Tenryū Hamanako Line
  • Kakegawa • Kakegawa-shiyakusho-mae • Nishi-Kakegawa •

Sakuragi • Ikoinohiroba • Hosoya • Haranoya • Harada • Towata •

Highway

• Tōmei Expressway
• Japan National Route 1
• Japan National Route 150

Local attractions

Only a few hundred meters from Kakegawa Station is the reconstructedKakegawa Castle, which was opened in April 1994. Another local attraction is the Kakegawa Kacho-en, which hosts a large variety of bird and plant species in a greenhouse-enclosed private garden, open to the public. Both the ocean and mountains are contained within Kakegawa's city limits.

Sister city relations

• - Ōshū, Iwate, Japan from August 16, 1985
• - Corning, New York, United States^[2]
• - Eugene, Oregon, United States, from April 1979^[2]
• - Hoengseong County, Gangwon Province, South Korea ^[3] since November 25, 2001

Notable people from Kakegawa

• Yoshinobu Ishikawa - politician
• Ichiki Kitokuro - politician
• Yoshioka Yayoi - physician, educator
• Satoru Mizushima - filmmaker
• Shunpei Uto - Olympic swimmer
• Kenya Matsui – professional soccer player
• Hajime Moriyasu – professional soccer player

References

1. "Escolas Brasileiras Homologadas no Japão" (Archive). Embassy of Brazil in Tokyo. February 7, 2008. Retrieved on October 13, 2015.
2. "US-Japan Sister Cities by State". Asia Matters for America. Honolulu, HI: East-West Center. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
3. "International Exchange". List of Affiliation Partners within Prefectures. Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR). Retrieved 21 November 2015.

External links

• Official website (Japanese)