Kakegawa (掛川)

Map

Getting There

• train
• bus
• car

Best Times to Visit

• spring: Spring combines strawberry picking, fresh tea harvests, pleasant sightseeing weather, and peak iris preparations.
• summer: Summer offers lush gardens, flower displays, bird attractions, and scheduled tea events, though conditions are warm and humid.
• autumn: Autumn is ideal for comfortable heritage sightseeing, seasonal gardens, local harvests, and traditional mountain-yam soup.
• winter: Winter is recommended for strawberry picking, mild weather, indoor bird attractions, and seasonal tea-house or garden experiences.

What's There

• architecture: The reconstructed wooden castle keep, historic palace, tea house, and farmhouse showcase traditional Japanese architectural styles.
• birds: Kakegawa Kachoen features close encounters with owls, penguins, parrots, and other birds, plus bird performances.
• castle: Kakegawa Castle is a prominent reconstructed medieval castle with a wooden keep and historic palace.
• culture: Tea ceremonies, castle history, traditional gardens, and local culinary traditions provide strong cultural experiences.
• farm: Tea fields, melon cultivation, strawberry farms, and other agricultural products are central to Kakegawa’s identity.
• flowers: Kamo Shobuen is especially known for its extensive iris displays, while Kachoen offers flowers year-round.
• food: Local specialties include deep-steamed tea, matcha sweets, mountain-yam soup, melons, and strawberries.
• garden: Kamo Shobuen and Shimizu-tei offer notable landscaped gardens, including iris displays and spring-fed strolling grounds.
• history: Kakegawa Castle, its palace, historic residences, and former domain buildings preserve important medieval and Edo-period heritage.
• nature: Tea landscapes, spring water, gardens, flowers, and agricultural countryside provide varied nature-oriented sightseeing.
• park: Kakegawa Castle Park and Kakegawa Kachoen provide landscaped outdoor and indoor recreational spaces.
• views: The castle park, tea house, gardens, and surrounding tea landscapes offer attractive scenic viewpoints.
• wildlife: Kakegawa Kachoen provides interactive encounters with diverse birds and other animals in a controlled garden setting.

Specialties

• Kakegawa Tea (掛川茶): Kakegawa is one of Japan’s leading tea-producing areas, known especially for its deep-steamed green tea. The city’s tea culture is supported by long-established production traditions and distinctive local growing conditions.
• Kakegawa Matcha Sweets (掛川抹茶スイーツ): Kakegawa promotes sweets made with locally branded Kakegawa matcha. The city organizes a matcha-sweets contest that develops and publicizes locally inspired recipes.
• Kakegawa Imo-jiru (掛川いも汁): Kakegawa Imo-jiru is a traditional local dish made with grated Japanese mountain yam and miso-based mackerel stock. It is particularly associated with autumn gatherings and local food culture.
• Kakegawa Melons (掛川メロン): Kakegawa produces high-quality melons using the area’s warm climate and agricultural expertise. Melons are identified by the city as one of its notable local agricultural products.
• Kakegawa Strawberries (掛川いちご): Strawberries are among the high-quality fruits produced in Kakegawa. The city highlights strawberry cultivation as part of its diverse agricultural production.