Kakegawa City

Japan's first castle keep rebuilt in wood.

Kakegawa Castle keep

Photo by 迷惘的人生 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Castle

Toppled by an earthquake,rebuilt in wood 140 years on.

The castle began when a retainer of the Imagawa clan built it in the Muromachi period, and in the Sengoku period Yamauchi Kazutoyo served as its lord for ten years and built the keep. Damaged in the great earthquake of 1854, the keep was restored in April 1994 as Japan's first authentic wooden reconstruction of a castle keep. In the ninomaru, the palace (御殿) rebuilt at the end of the Edo period survives and is an Important Cultural Property.

Restored April 1994
Japan's first authentic wooden keep reconstruction
The palace is an Important Cultural Property

02 ／ Station

A Shinkansen station,brought in by donations.

Kakegawa's Shinkansen station opened on 13 March 1988. Junichi Shimmura (榛村純一), who served as mayor, proposed bringing it here, and citizens and companies donated 3 billion yen. The north exit keeps a wooden station building remodelled in 1940. When it was due to be rebuilt, citizens asked to keep it and made 866 donations; it was made earthquake-resistant with its exterior restored, and came back into use in 2014.

Opened 13 March 1988
3 billion yen in donations
Wooden building remodelled in 1940

03 ／ Hōtoku

Morality and economy,carved on the gateposts.

Near Kakegawa Castle stands the Dai Nippon Hōtokusha (大日本報徳社), the base of the Hōtoku movement, which spreads the teachings of Ninomiya Sontoku. Its main hall, built in 1903, is said to be the oldest surviving public hall in Japan, and became an Important Cultural Property in 2009. The gateposts of the front gate, erected in 1909, are carved with "Gate of Morality" (道徳門) and "Gate of Economy" (経済門).

Main hall built 1903
Important Cultural Property, 2009
Gates of Morality and Economy

Living here

110 minutes to Tokyo, 60 to Nagoya.

about 110,000 people
60 min to a city centre
Shinkansen stops here

Kodama trains on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen stop here: about 1 hour 50 minutes from Kakegawa Station to Tokyo Station, and about 1 hour to Nagoya Station. The city has the Kakegawa interchange on the Tōmei Expressway and the Mori-Kakegawa interchange on the Shin-Tōmei, and eight stations on the Tenryū Hamanako Railroad. Mount Hakkō (八高山) rises to the north, and the sandy shore of the Enshū-nada Sea lies to the south.

People living here: 114,954people
Area: 265.69km²
Households: 43,770households
Rent (average for rentals): 48,079yen
Healthcare: 5 hospitals ／ 77 clinics

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

Population from 2005 onward (municipal boundary changed).2005-04-01 に新設合併（大須賀町・大東町）。2005年調査から市域が変わっている。

Children waiting for childcare: —17 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.

Kakegawa City in Japan34.769°N 137.998°E

to TokyoShinkansen Kodama110min
to NagoyaShinkansen Kodama60min

Travel times follow 静岡県の移住・定住サイト「ゆとりすと静岡」の掛川市のページ（移住相談窓口は掛川市くらしデザイン課）に載っている値 (checked 2026-09-24). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 5 municipalities.

Territory of Kakegawa City

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

30.8km

袋井市, 菊川市, 島田市, 森町, 御前崎市

Kakegawa City isthis kind of town.

01The keep of Kakegawa Castle, damaged in the great Ansei earthquake, was restored in 1994 as Japan's first authentic wooden reconstruction of a keep
02The Shinkansen station opened in 1988 with 3 billion yen donated by citizens and companies, and a wooden station building survives at the north exit
03It is home to the Dai Nippon Hōtokusha, base of the Hōtoku movement, whose 1903 main hall is an Important Cultural Property

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Kakegawa City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗