Kawazu, Shizuoka

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Kawazu is a town on the east coast of the Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It faces Sagami Bay and the Pacific Ocean, with the Amagi Mountains to the west. The town covers about 100.8 square kilometers and has around 7,200 residents (as of August 2019). The population has slowly declined in recent decades.

Kawazu is famous for Kawazu sakura, an early-blooming cherry tree that attracts visitors in late winter and early spring.

Parts of Kawazu lie within Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, and the area is known for many hot springs. The climate is warm in summer and mild in winter, helped by the warm Kuroshio current offshore. The average annual temperature is about 16°C, and rainfall is high, especially in September.

Historically, the area was controlled directly by the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo period. The modern village of Kawazu was created in 1889, and Kawazu town formed in 1958 by merging Kamikawazu and Shimokawazu.

The local economy relies on farming and tourism, especially hot spring resorts.

Education in Kawazu includes three public elementary schools and one public junior high school. There is no high school in the town.