Kakegawa Things to Do

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Crests were design for a particular Samurai family.
Family crests included symbols representing characters, numbers, figures, animals and plants..

They came into use during the HEIAN period...During the EDO period, when clothing styles were systemized, clothes emblazoned with a family cest were established as a formal style..

This one is from the OTA family, which ruled from 1746 to 1869...

Each family crest is not only a symbol or an emblem of a family, but it is also the evidence of family blood, roots and furthermore, it may be possible to help establish self-identity.

There is a tea ceremony house between the Palace and the museum..

You can be service in the tradional tea ceremony style for 500 yen..

Open...930am to 430pm

Look at my OKABE page for explanations on TEA CEREMONY

The palace was destroyed in the great earthquake of 1854, so it was reconstructed by SUKEKATSU OTA, who was the lord of kakegawa castle at that time..

Although the OTA clan continued to use the castle, by 1869 it had fallen into ruin...

After it fell into ruin, the palace was appropriated by the military school of the TOKUGAWA family....

In 1890 it was designated a NATIONAL IMPORTANT CULTURAL LANDMARK.

The roof of the palace entrance was built in the MUKURIHAFU style.

Hafu means the triangular aprt of the roof formed by the sloping eaves..But hafu bending upward like the one in the palace entrance are called MUKURIHAFU....

Donjon were built on top of a high stone foundation to help protect them from invasion

The stones in this foundation were not held together by mortar. They were simply fit together with the larger part of each stone on the inside.

This helped keep the foundation in place under it's own weight. Since no mortar was used to hold the stones together the foundation was flexible enough to withstand the many earthquakes that occur in Japan.

Even though they could withstand some of the strongest earthquakes, they were very susceptible to fires becasue they relied heavily on wood construction

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Gates were strategically positioned in the walls of each bailey so that anyone who attempts to enter the castle must zig zag back and forth to reach the inner grounds and the donjon. Gates were often fortified by bolting metal plates over them for strength. .

Gates came in several different styles and had several different purposes. Otemon is the term used for the main gate of a castle and is usually the most well fortified.

As for the major gate there is a Shoho castle plan, but the accurate position had not been grasped. The present location of the gate is about 50m south, and you can see the change of color on the pavement where the original was...

Mal's Bar and restaurant is a great American bar in kakegawa. It is an international gathering space and an emporium of gastronomic excellence.

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Ogasa Shrine is perched atop the precipitous cliff. The view from the mountain is really superb. From there there is a narrow trail to the deep mountain area.