Kakegawa, Shizuoka

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Location of Kakegawa in Shizuoka Prefecture

View of Kakegawa Castle in April 2006.

Kakegawa (掛川市, Kakegawa-shi^?) is a city located in Shizuoka, Japan. The original city was formed in 1959. The second Kakegawa was formed on April 1, 2005 when the towns of Daito and Osuka from Ogasa District merged into the original Kakegawa. Despite its recent official formation, the Kakegawa City area has been an active town since as far back as 1300 AD.

1 Demographics
2 Landmarks and attractions
3 Sister cities
4 External links

As of 2005, the city has an estimated population of 114,751 and the density of 432.00 persons per km². The total area is 265.63 km². Like most of Japan, Kakegawa's population is almost exclusively Japanese. However, there is a small population of westerners due to the nearby Corning factory as well as to the continued presence of foreign english lanuage teachers. In addition, Kakegawa has a noticeable Brazilian population (and to a lesser extent: Mexican, Peruvian, and Columbian) and it is more common to find signs written in Portuguese than in English.

Only a few hundred meters from the station is the rebuilt Kakegawa Castle, which was reopened in April 1994. Perhaps even more famous nowadays, the Kakegawa Kacho-en hosts a large variety of bird and plant species in a greenhouse-enclosed private garden, open to the public. The city is inundated with green tea fields and is known for its high quality Ocha (green tea). Both the ocean and mountains are contained within Kakegawa's limits and the Shinkansen runs through the town giving residents and visitors an easy out if they need it.

Kakegawa has sister city relationships with Eugene, Oregon and Corning, New York.