Kakunodate
Legacy castle town of many Samurai
Kakunodate is a historical pocket founded in the early 1600s as a military outpost with 80 samurai families dwelling in the vicinity. The past meets present in blossoms and festivals.
Discover Kakunodate
Discover a preserved collection of grand samurai mansions and modest merchant homes along the wide main street with spacious gardens and neat fences. Take a tour to gain insight into the life of a samurai, famous as warriors, and skilled in a wide range of artistic disciplines. Though the castle is gone the ancestors of samurai remain town residents, such as Ishiguro and Aoyagi families.
Weeping cherry trees drape candy coloured blossoms in late Spring. Polished cherry bark is also a famous local craft. Lion dance, Sasara-mai, with locals in summer along to the drums and flute. See Kabuki-themed floats in Autumn streets, Winter brings fire festivals as bundles of rice straw are set alight to ward off evil spirits and pray for health in the year ahead and snowy days ahead.
Visit Omura Art Museum for glassware. See a showcase of local crafts at Nishinomiya House with tansu chests and lacquerware on display. Taste Miso at the historic Ando Miso Sauce Brewery. Glimpse of the history of modern Japanese literature after the Meiji era at Witness Shinchosha Memorial Literature Museum.
