Kamoso Shoya residence - Kakegawa

Kakegawa City, Shizuoka Prefecture Many varieties of iris bloom at the Kamoso, a villa that once belonged to an Edo Period village headman.

Kakegawa was the 26th station along the famous Tokaido Road leading to this area from the city of Edo. It was also the site of the Kakegawa castle town. The pastoral Harasato area, a peaceful spot in the northwest part of Kakegawa, is home to a villa that was once the property of the village headman of the region. It is now known for its stunning iris gardens.

The Kamo family home, which has been passed down through the generations since the Momoyama Period, is an old villa housing a host of documents dating back to the Edo Period, including a letter written by Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was lord of Hamamatsu Castle at the time (1589). Most of the currently existing building was constructed in 1773—making it an invaluable historical asset with a history of 240-plus years. The irises blooming in front of the white walls of the villa were said to be an indicator of when to plant crops, since they bloom during the rainy season. In this connection they have long been cultivated as protection from evil. These iris gardens include older blooms dating to the early Meiji Period, as well as newly-collected and selectively-bred varieties. The gardens span roughly one hectare, with some 500,000 blossoms of approximately 500 different varieties preserved and cultivated here.

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