Situated in the northern part of the Nōbi Plain, what is now Kakamigahara originally thrived as a post station on the Nakasendō highway connecting Edo with Kyoto, being called "Unuma-juku" at the time.

The Kiso River flows through the southern part, forming the municipal and prefectural (Aichi-Gifu) border.

With the exception of rest stops such as Unuma-juku or other roadside settlements, though, the area was largely wilderness until the Meiji period.

Beginning from the Meiji period, to take advantage of the large amount of wilderness and well-drained soil, military bases and training grounds were established.

In addition, Gifu University's agricultural and engineering departments were established in the area, leading the growth of machine and textile factories.

Kiso, Sakai, Shin-Sakai, Daianji Ogase Reservoir North: Seki East: Kamo District (Sakahogi-cho) West: Gifu City, Hashima District (Kasamatsu-cho, Ginan-cho) South: Ichinomiya, Konan, Inuyama, Niwa District ( Fusou-cho) The city has a climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and mild winters (Köppen climate classification Cfa).

During the post-Meiji restoration cadastral reforms, the area was organised into Inaba District, Gifu in April 1897.

Per Japanese census data,[4] the population of Kakamigahara has recently plateaued after a long period of growth.

[5] Kakamigahara has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 24 members.

In Sue-cho in the north of Kakamigahara City, an industrial park called Techno Plaza was established by the Gifu Prefectural government as a focal point for the research and development of robotics and virtual reality.

Many ventures have moved into the park, including some companies that have made IPOs, such as Nippon Ichi Software, Inc.