Article

14366 ／かいせいまち

Kanagawa Prefecture 足柄上郡

Kaisei Town

A tidied farm road, 5,000 town flowers.

Ajisai Farm Road, Ajisai-no-Sato

Photo by TojinTripper (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Yaichi taro

Taro grown from Odawara seed spread,and was farmed across Kanto before the war.

The town explains the Yaichi taro as coming from seed taro that Takai Yaichiro, a native of Kaisei, obtained from Odawara in 1903 and grew in the town. Handed out to relatives and neighbors, the white, sticky taro spread. Output fell sharply after the war, and in 2011 volunteer farmers formed a study group to revive it.

Seed taro obtained in 1903
Study group formed in 2011
Name and logo trademarked in FY2012

02 ／ Place names

Villages named for islands, hills and terracesstand slightly above the plain.

The town's page on the Seto Yashiki says the settlements are all slightly raised, as the place names with "shima" (island), "oka" (hill) and "dai" (terrace) suggest. The Ashigara Plain lies in the back marsh of the Sakawa River; in the Edo period the Okubo clan altered the river's course, paddies were developed, and the cultivated area is said to have tripled.

Cultivated area tripled
Okubo clan altered the river's course in the Edo period
Back marsh of the Sakawa River

03 ／ Town name

The town took its name from a school.It began as a school opened in 1882.

The Kaisei School opened in Nobusawa Village in 1882 (Meiji 15), and in 1901 it became the Kaisei Elementary School run jointly by Sakata and Yoshidajima villages. The town took its name from the school. The name comes from an old Chinese phrase, kaibutsu seimu, about developing knowledge to carry out one's duties for the world, and it is in the town charter.

Kaisei School opened in 1882
Kaisei Elementary School in 1901
Origin: kaibutsu seimu

Kaisei Town from the sky

Now and 1974–78. Tap a photo to zoom in.

Now1974–78

Wide (about 6 km across)

Close (about 1.5 km across)

Now (shot September–November 2022)Shot 1974–78

Source: Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) GSI Tiles（全国最新写真（シームレス）／国土画像情報（第一期：1974〜1978年撮影））

Open in GSI Maps (now)Open in GSI Maps (1974–78)

Living here

A small town, 1.7 km by 3.8 km.

about 20,000 people
90 min to a city centre
Rural district town

The town sits on an alluvial fan along the Sakawa River, 1.7 km east to west and 3.8 km north to south, with a total area of 6.55 km². The town's site calls it the smallest town in Kanagawa. It borders Minamiashigara City to the west with the Hakone outer rim behind it and Odawara City to the south, and Yamakita, Matsuda and Oi towns to the north and east across the Sakawa River.

People living here: 18,329people
Area: 6.55km²
Households: 6,936households
Rent (average for rentals): 58,863yen
Healthcare: 1 hospital ／ 17 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Children waiting for childcare: —3 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy: —
Average annual temperature: —

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Kaisei Town in Japan35.336°N 139.123°E

to ShinjukuOdakyu Odawara Line rapid express79min

Travel times follow 小田急電鉄開成駅時刻表（上り・新宿方面。2026年3月16日改正のダイヤ。小田急公式サイトの時刻表ページに埋め込まれた NAVITIME 配信の『列車ごとの停車駅・時刻』〈StopListDiagram〉と、公式の駅 PDF 時刻表 odakyu.jp/station/pdf/kaisei.pdf）。開成駅発の快速急行・急行（新宿行）の全便について、新宿着の時刻を1本ずつ読んで『開成発→新宿着』の分数を出した（平日快速急行94本・急行20本、土休日快速急行47本・急行3本） (checked 2026-10-21). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 5 municipalities.

Territory of Kaisei Town

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (Administrative Area Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari.Lakes: National Land Numerical Information (Lake Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari. Prepared with the approval of the Director-General of the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan, using its Digital Map 25000 (Spatial Data Framework) and Digital Map 25000 (Place Names and Public Facilities). (承認番号平27情使、第585号)

North to south

3.8km

Minamiashigara City, Matsuda Town, Odawara City, Oi Town, Yamakita Town

Kaisei Town isthis kind of town.

01After land consolidation of 17 hectares in the Kamijima and Kanaijima area was completed in fiscal 1983, the town planted its flower, the hydrangea, 5,000 plants in all along farm roads and channels in fiscal 1983 and in 1984, because the landscape had lost its character and become bland, and named it Ajisai Farm Road
02The Yaichi taro comes from seed taro that Takai Yaichiro, a native of the town, obtained from Odawara in 1903; it was grown across the Kanto region before the war, and in 2011 volunteer farmers formed a study group to revive it
03The town took its name from Kaisei Elementary School, which began as the Kaisei School opened in Nobusawa Village in 1882, and the Seto Yashiki, the house of the headman of the old Kanaijima Village, is the town's first designated cultural property

See the town as it is now.

Source: Wikidata (P2002, P2003, P2013, P2397)

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Kaisei Town official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes