However, Kakegawa has a noticeable Nikkei (particularly, South American) population and it is more common to find signs written in Portuguese than in English.

Kakegawa Castle was built by Asahina Yasuhiro, a retainer of Imagawa Yoshitada, in the Bunmei era (1469–1487).

After the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, Kakegawa Domain was created, and ruled by numerous fudai daimyō.

Neighboring Yokosuka Domain, a smaller fudai holding, was also located within what are now the city limits of Kakegawa.

Kakegawa has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 30 members.

Major products include telecommunications equipment and electronics, cosmetics, automotive components and musical instruments.