The town of Kakunodate was formed in the year of Genwa6 (1620/ Hidetada Tokugawa in Edo period) by the feudal load of the region,Yoshimitsu Ashinawho. The town flourished as a castle town under the Stake-kitake family.
In over 380years, the structure of the town has hardly changed.


Samurai houses are called "Bukeyashiki"
Several old buildings still remain from the samurai era, and five Samurai houses are open to the public : Odano-ke, Kawarada-ke, Iwahashi-ke, Aoyagi-ke and Ishiguro-ke.
Recentry, two Japanese movies were filmed in the town, "Kakushiken Oni-no -Tsume（Tha Hidden Blade)" and "Tasogare Seibee (The Twilight Samurai)" directed Yoji Yamada.


The over 400 weeping cherry trees blossom in the samurai district are magnificent when they blossom in the spring.
The trees form a 2 km-long tunnel of flowers along the banks of the Hinokinai River, which was chosen as one of the 100 most beautiful cherry blossoms viewing places in Japan.