Kakegawa Matsuri ‘27!

Every autumn, the streets around Kakegawa Station come alive for the Kakegawa Festival, one of the most celebrated town festivals in Shizuoka Prefecture. Once every three years it becomes the Grand Festival, when forty-one neighborhoods from seven shrines in the city center take part. With roots going back about 260 years to the mid-Edo period, the festival was known before the war as the "Costume Festival" for its elegance. Today it still features beautiful costumes, traditional hand dances, and nagauta (long-song) performances.

Against the backdrop of Kakegawa Castle, decorated two-wheeled yatai floats roll through each neighborhood carrying musicians and taiko drummers. The highlight is watching rows of floats pass one another in perfect time to the clack of wooden hyoshigi clappers.

The Eugene delegation will be traveling with Eugene Mayor Kaarin Knudson to Kakegawa Sunday October 10 - Wednesday October 13, 2027.

We are looking for Eugene residents to join our delegation! Delegation members will stay with a Kakegawa family.

Each person selected for the delegation will be responsible for the following:

• Travel to and from Kakegawa

• Participating in all festival activities, including friendship dinner and city tour

If you are interested, please fill out the form on this page. In the message, include why you are interested in being part of the delegation. Also indicate whether you would like to bring others (like spouses) with you.

Irashaimase! (Welcome)!

The festival is also famous for its lion dances. The giant lions take dozens of people to operate and can fill an entire street. The rare Kankaramachi three-lion dance is a Shizuoka Prefecture intangible folk cultural property. This style of lion is usually found only in eastern and northern Japan, and its presence in Kakegawa is a reminder of the city's history as a castle town and post station on the Tokaido Road.