Featherston (Māori: Paetūmōkai[4]) is a town in the South Wairarapa District, in the Wellington Region of New Zealand's North Island.

[5] This proximity to the capital, coupled with low house prices, made Featherston popular with writers, artists and those with young families, in turn leading to a recent upsurge in business investment and creative activity.

Tuna could be caught in vast quantities during their seasonal migration to the sea, and the catch could be dried for storage or trading.

The camp was larger than the town and included 16 dining halls, six cookhouses, 17 shops, a picture theatre, a hospital, and a post office.

Tension had been building for weeks before a group of recently arrived prisoners staged a sit-down strike and refused to work.

After the war, the first POW to return to Featherston burned incense at the site in 1974 and a joint New Zealand–Japanese project established a memorial ground, located 2 km north of the town on State Highway 2.

[13] The Anzac Hall was built in 1916 to give ‘A place of resort, recreation and amusement for all those who are now or have been or may be during the term of the war employed in the military or naval service of the Crown’.

Lake Wairarapa Domain is a popular recreation area for walks, cycling and motorcycling, plus fishing, birdwatching and exploring the wetlands.

In 2015, Featherston joined the Booktown movement, and hosts an annual literary festival and other bookish events through the year.

Other annual events include winter's Time Traveller's Ball, a summer series of Featherston First Friday community arts nights,[16] and the Cross Creek Rail Society's Mini Train Carnival.

The Royal Hotel re-opened in December 2017 after extensive renovations, with a steampunk theme allowing them to pay homage to the town's literary and historical threads.

SH 2 connects Featherston south to Wellington via the Remutaka Pass and the Hutt Valley, and north to Masterton via Greytown and Carterton and onwards to Woodville.