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As some of you know I went to Kakegawa, a city
in Shizuoka prefecture, where I also traveled roughly one month ago. Back then
I only had one day in Kakegawa but got excited to explore, therefore I decided
to come back to see more of the city for a few days..
Kakegawa is very famous for many things. Kakegawa has countless tea fields, mountains and preserves a lot of history with the Kakegawa castle, so as fun activities with bird parks and much more to explore. When searching for Kakegawa, a lot of people get the wrong idea about the city, as one mostly reads about the castle or a bird park but to be honest Kakegawa is so much more. For my second stay in the city I decided to visit for 5 days, to cover most of the activities, still I was not able to see everything. Sadly, I also missed the sunflower field, as I was too late in time for the blooming.
As I arrived on my first day in Kakegawa, I discovered more about the wooden Kakegawa station. The Kakegawa station is generally a great stop for tourist as it has an office for tourist who speak English. Also, one gets inspiration about what to do and where to go and much more. The station itself also hosts local shops, where one can buy farmer goods, as Kakegawa has lots of farm with organic fruits and vegetables. Since Kakegawa is a small town with lots of nature it´s also a good option to stay with locals, such as Tabinoya, which is a guest house, where I stayed for the first night and had the possibility to connect with locals and learn more about Japanese culture.
To travel in Kakegawa it´s best to rent a car or bicycles. Kakegawa has a bus but most of the places are easiest to reach by car. There are many rental offices in town, also just in front of the station. Japan is famous for temples and shrines and besides all shrines, also Kakegawa holds a special temple, the Kotonomama shrine, which is famous for it´s huge tree that is said to lend power and make all wishes come true.
If you haven’t heard about Tokeido yet, it´s the most famous road that leads from Tokyo to Kyoto and used to be walk back in edo time. It has many stops along the road to stop and of course also Kakegawa hosts a few of these spots. One of them is the Kawazakaya tea house. Kawazakaya is as said on Tokeido road, with a long history. It has the Edo era architecture, demonstration the edo image. The tea house was built by Ota, the lord of the castle at the Kakegawa Kairakuen in year 2 of the Bunkyu era (1805). The purpose was to entertain well acquainted guests.
On my second day I visited the Nemunoki
Children Museum. It is in the forest and a little different. All paintings
are from disabled children. The museum is a quiet but lovely place with a beautiful
architecture and very nice paintings. There is also a souvenir shop where one
can grab some memories of the visit and the forest café mariko is also very
close. The café is working with the museum and serves fresh herbal teas.
Another museum in Kakegawa is the Shiseido museum which was founded in 1992. The Brand however exists since 1872. Shiseido is a Japanese beauty company, with history in pharmacy production. Kakegawa is the only place in Japan to host a museum and a factory. I also recommend a visit at Fukuda Orimono corporation which was established 1964 in Kakegawa, as Kakegawa is one of three major cotton production areas. They produce for brands like Armani and Hermes, so as many Japanese brands. There is also a small shop to bring some fabrics back home. Kudzu cloth, made from flower are also very famous for Kakegawa, as the flower is all around the city. The products are all handmade and traditional. The was established in the west of Kakegawa in the mountains and appeared first in 1192. It can be found as table wear, cloth in tea ceremony, cushion, bag, zoria and many more products.
Anime and manga are for sure something that Japan is famous for all over the world. Pretty interesting is the ceiling painting at the Eifuku temple, which was the inspiration for dragon ball Z. The best view of the paining can be seen when lying down on the floor. A must visit in Kakegawa. Also, for those who are looking for the “holiday feeling”, Kakegawa offers beaches and lovely green places to relax. Next to the Kuniyasu beach, one can find the Shiosai bridge, that is also close to an onsen place and a farm market.
For those who like to stay on a more luxurious
environment the Tsumagoi resort might be a great deal. The Tsumagoi resort is a 2-building hotel complex in
the middle of a forest. It became most famous for its huge natural landscape
and onsen.
The onsen do feature a tea onsen, as Kakegawa is famous for tea. Tsumagoi offers nature, holiday, cuisine, hot springs, sport and amusement, weddings, recreation center, music events, conventions and parties. The hotel can accommodate more than 900 guests and becomes most special by night with its Tsumagoi illumination that I also visited during my stay: A unique event with light show in the hotel garden.
Kakegawa is in Japan known as a center of history of the Houtoku movement, which is famous in Japan and recognized by a statue of young boy carrying wood on his back while reading a book. The statue is placed in all elementary schools. The movement comes from the end of edo ear when living conditions were low. The philosophy itself is to establish harmony and morality and economy with its four disciplines, diligence, sincerity, modesty and charity. The museum is the oldest western building in Kakegawa and was built in honor of the achievements of Ryoichiro Okada in 1927.
After my visit at the museum I was lucky enough that my stay just happened to be during the festival season. Every year Kakegawa holds one of Japan´s biggest fireworks with a total duration of roughly 3 hours. I was wearing a Yukata for the event and had a wonderful night with fireworks and sushi, chatting with Japanese people and getting an insight of Japan.
My last day in Kakegawa was dedicated to some more outdoor activities, as I went for the Satoen grape farm and picked some fresh grapes by myself. I have previously done fruit picking in Japan and always liked it so much.
One day I really want to come for the strawberry picking (a dream of mine!). Next to the Kakegawa grape farm one can find the Narakoko camp site, which is also famous for onsen and a very Japanese way of living. Kakegawa has multiple bird parks and while I visited the biggest one last time, I made a quick stop at the Kamo Palace Kachoen, which is not only having some birds, but also a garden and a smaller museum of history and changing exhibitions.
Kakegawa has also a lot of shops around and inside the station which are great for some souvenir shopping or simply strolling. I´d personally describe Kakegawa as a raw diamond and while I had some support from the tourism board during my visit, it was my own desire and wish to travel again to Kakegawa, with a flight booked by myself and the wish to learn more about Japan in a small town with a huge landscape.
Besides my current posting I also want to make sure that you guys don´t miss the spots that I visited during my last visit in Kakegawa. One of them is the Kiwi Fruit Cunty which is the biggest producer of kiwi in Japan and also has huge tea fields. Besides enjoying a lunch on the farm and some kiwi tasting, my main mission was to harvest tea and produce my own tea for take away. I can still not wait to come home and finally try my own tea.
Kakegawa is also the place where one can find the Yamaha Kakegawa Factory. I guess Yamaha is a name, that all of us know. I visited the Yamaha factory for a tour and could even enter behind the scenes to meet workers and see them producing pianos. The brand is established since 1887 and well knows for high quality. Making piano 23 steps from creating inner rim to quality inspection and completion. One piano has more than 80.000 pieces. Nearby to the Yamaha Kakegawa factory one will also find a Yamaha golf course and the Katsuragi Hotel Kitanomaru, also known as Yamaha resort. Yamaha also used to produce furniture and is still famous for producing golf equipment. At the Yamaha resort I enjoyed an 8-course vegan dinner.
I payed a visit to the Kakegawa castle, built more than 500 years ago. Sadly, it collapsed due to heavy earthquake but was rebuilt. It has a total floor space of 947m2. Very special for me was that I was guided by a samurai costumed man, to show me the castle. I also tried on a traditional kimono and felt like a princess. After a tour through the castle I enjoyed a tea ceremony and had some of the best matcha ever, which I also bought at the station later, as I had to take it home.
My last stop was the Kakegawa Kachouen bird park, which is the biggest bird park in Japan. It was so much fun and I was able to actually interact with the birds. They were free, flying around and one could feed them and take some lovely photos too.
Combining the small-town life and exploring all about the nature made me even more curious about Kakegawa, which is easy to explore for long and short trips. I hope this article made you also curious to explore more about Japan and Kakegawa. Don´t miss out on the video that I recorded during my stay to give you guys a more dynamic view of the city. Please make also sure to visit their official website to find more information about Kakegawa [link attached].
