Current Time in Kakogawachō-honmachi, Japan

Kakogawacho-honmachi is the historic centre of Kakogawa, a city in the southern part of Hyogo Prefecture in western Japan. It lies on the eastern bank of the Kako River, a few kilometres inland from the Seto Inland Sea, on the coastal plain that stretches between the port of Kobe and the castle town of Himeji. The word honmachi means main town, and the district holds the old commercial street, civic buildings and the busy area around Kakogawa Station.

Kakogawa as a whole is home to roughly a quarter of a million people, and this district serves as its administrative and shopping heart. The city is one of the main industrial centres of the Harima region and lies within the wider Osaka and Kobe metropolitan area, so many residents commute to the larger cities while others work in local steel, chemical and engineering plants. That mixture of heavy industry and quiet suburban living gives the place its particular character.

The Kako River valley has been settled since prehistoric times and served as an important route between the Inland Sea and the interior of the province. During the Edo period the area lay on the Sanyodo highway, and Kakogawa developed as a post town where travellers rested and goods were transferred between road and river. Ferries once carried people across the water at the point where the main street reaches the bank. Industrialisation arrived in the twentieth century, and the opening of a very large integrated steelworks on the coast after the Second World War transformed the local economy and drew workers from across Japan.

The most celebrated monument in the city is Kakurinji, a temple founded according to tradition under the patronage of Prince Shotoku in the early seventh century. Its main hall and the Taishido hall are designated national treasures and count among the oldest wooden buildings in the country, standing in a peaceful precinct of old pines a short distance from the centre. The riverside parks, small neighbourhood shrines and the remains of the local castle site add further interest for those with time to explore.

Local culture is centred on the autumn festivals, when neighbourhood teams carry elaborately decorated portable shrines through the streets to the sound of drums and flutes, and on the summer fireworks that light up the Kako River. The city is also known throughout Japan for katsumeshi, a dish of breaded beef cutlet served on rice with a rich demi glace sauce, invented in a local restaurant and now a genuine source of civic pride.

Kakogawa Station lies on the JR Sanyo Main Line, giving fast connections to Kobe, Osaka and Himeji, while the Kakogawa Line runs north into the hills towards Nishiwaki. Expressways cross the city, and Kobe Airport and the ports of the Kansai region are close at hand. Schools, a public library and several colleges serve the local population.

Kakogawacho-honmachi offers a glimpse of everyday urban Japan, where ancient temples, river landscapes and modern industry sit comfortably side by side.