Kakogawa City

Western food you eat with chopsticks, at 100 places.

Katsumeshi

Photo by 松岡明芳 (Public domain)

01 ／ Food

A beef cutlet,eaten with chopsticks.

Not long after the war, a diner in front of Kakogawa Station devised katsumeshi (かつめし) as "Western food you can eat casually with chopsticks." A beef cutlet, pounded flat, goes over rice with a demi-glace-style sauce and boiled cabbage on the side. More than 100 places in and around the city serve it today.

Born soon after the war
Served at over 100 places
Boiled cabbage on the side

02 ／ National treasure

In a hall from 1112,the first paintings survived.

At Kakurin-ji (鶴林寺) both the main hall and the Taishi-do are National Treasures. The Taishi-do was built in 1112, late in the Heian period; in 1976 infrared photography found paintings from its founding on the board walls and ceiling panels. The main hall dates from 1397 and is held to be the finest work in the eclectic style.

Taishi-do built in 1112
Paintings found by infrared in 1976
Main hall built in 1397

03 ／ Watching over

They put 1,500 camerasalong the school routes.

900 cameras went up along school routes and around schools in 2017, and 575 more at parks and intersections the next year. Today 1,500 watch-over cameras are joined by 150 advanced ones carrying AI. By the city's own analysis, recorded criminal offences in 2024 were down 40 percent from 2017, before the cameras.

1,500 watch-over cameras
150 advanced cameras with AI
Offences down 40% from 2017 (city analysis)

Living here

29 minutes to Sannomiya, 52 to Osaka, by rapid service.

about 260,000 people
60 min to a city centre

Special Rapid trains stop at JR Kakogawa Station, and Himeji is 9 minutes away. City hall is about 7 minutes by bus from the station, or about 20 on foot. Large stores cluster around the station.

People living here: 260,878people
Area: 138.48km²
Households: 107,195households
Rent (average for rentals): 48,662yen
Healthcare: 13 hospitals ／ 179 clinics