Taketa City is famous for the ruins of Oka Castle, a castle built on top of a cliff. It is the motif of the song “Kojo no Tsuki” (Moon over the Ruins of the Castle) composed by the musician Rentaro Taki, but I’ve already been there so I’ll pass this time. I took a walk around the old town, which I hadn’t been able to see last time. It’s a town with a sense of history like Kyoto. I was surprised to see a bronze statue of Lieutenant Hirose, who carried out the Port Arthur blockade operation during the Russo-Japanese War. I didn’t know he was from here. After the operation, the Japanese Navy, led by Commander Togo Heihachi, faced off against the Russian Baltic Fleet, which was said to be the most powerful fleet in the world at the time.
Finally, we had a special lunch (reservation needed in advance) at Okura Shimizuyu, a café that was once a bathhouse. Apparently, his parents own a vegetable shop next door, so they served us a variety of vegetable dishes. I couldn’t finish it all. They even served us matcha green tea.
taketa25 ohkura simizu public bath in the past
taketa26 restaurant now
taketa34
taketa28 restaurant managed bu vegitable shop
taketa30 lunch
taketa29 lunch
taketa32 remnants of public bath from upper floor
taketa31
taketa33 dessert
taketa35 fukujyuenn distilled spirits factory and shop
Our final stop was a barley shochu brewery in town, where we had the opportunity to try a variety of shochu while the proprietress was busy on her way to Tokyo to attend a wedding.
I wonder how to read this kanji of city name as Kitsuki. It is composed of the kanji characters for pestle, which is used to knead rice cakes, and construction, so it seems to be auspicious. Even more auspicious, this kanji is also used as part of the address of Izumo Taisha Shrine where The god of nation building is enshrined. There is a theory that the place name originated from a typo on a red seal letter (a document guaranteeing territory) given to feudal lords by the shogunate, but is this true?
kitsuki castle town13
Kitsuki is also said to be one of the Little Kyotos, but what exactly is a Little Kyoto? There is an organization called All Japan Kyoto Committee, which all cities across Japan that are considered Little Kyotos join, and the three requirements for membership are that a city have a landscape similar to Kyoto, historical ties, and traditional industries and performing arts. Onomichi City is also a member, but what is missing in Takehara City(*), which calls itself Little Kyoto and is close to Onomichi? Or is the membership fee too high? Or is Onomichi opposed to joining? I wonder if there are various adult reasons for a city like this to join. It seems like it’s very difficult for new members to join either the EU or NATO.
(*)After looking into it more closely, I found that Takehara City was a member but withdrew on its own, and Onomichi City has now also withdrawn. Is the name value of Little Kyoto no longer effective? This may be due to the diversification of tourism appeal.
kitsuki castle town1
kitsuki castle town2 salt house slope
kitsuki castle town3 vinegar house slope
kitsuki castle town10 fuji and reflecting fuji on th slope
kitsuki castle town11
kitsuki castle town12 clan school
kitsuki castle town4 chief retainers house
kitsuki castle town5 samurai residence
kitsuki castle town14 church
Anyway, it seems like it’s popular to take photos on the slopes in kimono. There are a lot of kimono rental shops. It’s a quiet and nice town. The castle town of Kitsuki is made up of samurai residences built on two plateaus running east to west, and merchant houses on the lowlands surrounded by these plateaus. That’s why there are slopes everywhere. When you go up to one plateau, the other slopes seem to be right in front of you, so it makes a great picture. If you walk along the southern plateau to the eastern end, you will see Kitsuki Castle as if it is floating on the sea. This is also worth seeing.
How many Japanese people can read the kanji “Obi”? This land was the site of a dispute between the Ito clan and the Shimazu clan, both of whom were officials dispatched from the Kamakura shogunate, but it is said that after the Toyotomi administration, the Ito clan took over the land. The Ito clan is said to have immigrated from Ito City, Shizuoka Prefecture during the Kamakura Shogunate era, and took the surname Ito, so it has a really long history. That’s why a commemorative tree (Cherry Blossom) was planted in Obi Castle by Mayor Ito.
obi castle entrance
obi (2)komura jyutaro memorial hall
obi (3)castle entrance
obi (6)kuruwa for protection
obi (7)four happy cedars
obi (8)peach
obi (9)ito connection
obi (10)cherry blossoms
obi (11)
obi (15)
obi (16)
obi (17)museum
obi (18)
obi (19)
obi (23)
obi (33)clan school
obi (24)
obi (25)
obi (26)
obi (28)
obi (27)
obi (31)
obi (29)
obi (30)lord’s house
obi (32)
It was the first in Kyushu to be selected as an Important Preservation District for Traditional Buildings by Agency for Cultural Affairs. The town layout from the early Edo period remains intact, and it is one of the Little Kyotos throughout the country. The beauty of the stonework of both Obi Castle and samurai residences is unparalleled in the world. What’s more, the techniques used are too maniacal, such as stacking them in a large curve or at an angle instead of stacking them straight. The nearly 500-year history gives the moss on the stone walls a wabi-sabi feel. I have never seen such beautiful stonework. Definitely worth seeing.
obi (4)
obi (5)
obi (20)
Also, the Obi cedars, which can often be seen inside Obi Castle, are beautiful as they grow straight through a carpet of moss. There is a wonderful cedar forest on the hill at the very back of the castle ruins. Because they contain oil inside and grows quickly, it is also light, so it was valued as a material for ships and construction.
obi (12)
obi (13)
obi (14)
seated archery with cat
There is a seated archery course near the tourist information center that was popular among samurai at the time, so be sure to give it a try. 8 arrows cost 500 yen. If you underestimate them because they are close, your arrows will have a hard time hitting the target. If you miss too many arrows, the person in charge will feel sorry for you and add a few more arrows. By the way, there is a black cat living at this archery range, and he appeared on the NHK program Iwago-san’s “Cat Walks,” and when I was struggling with my bow and arrow, he came and sat behind me quietly.
obi (34)shihan-mato
obi (35)
obi (36)appeared on TV program cat walking
Detour
Miyazaki is the home of sweet potato shochu. Strangely enough, the alcohol content shipped outside the prefecture is the usual 25%, but the one distributed within the prefecture is as low as 20%. It is said that the technology for making shochu was brought to Miyazaki from Okinawa, and people who moved from Okinawa to Miyazaki after the world-war2 created moonshine with a low alcohol content, and it was legalized by setting a low alcohol tax on it. It is still distributed in Miyazaki Prefecture. There is a famous sake brewery in Nichinan City, and a dojo where young people can learn brewing techniques has opened.
nichinan city (1)
nichinan city (2)sake brewery
nichinan city (3)shochu production training center
Arashiyama is a famous tourist destination in Kyoto. However, the place name “Ranzan”, which is pronounced in original Chinese reading but written the same character, is said to have originated from a famous scholar who tweeted that it was Musashi-Arashiyama. I haven’t walked all the way to Ranzan Valley, so I don’t know what it feels like, but there are lavender fields just before the valley.
ranzan1
ranzan3
ranzan5
ranzan4
ranzan7
sunflower from the stand
It is common for high stands to be set up on the field to create a photo spot for Instagram photos (often seen in sunflower fields), but the real cultivated land is surprisingly small. If you are in the Provence region of France, the field will fill your field of vision, but since the petals of lavender are small, it is difficult to take pictures that fill the screen with lavender. The shoot ends early, and the lavender stick making process, which takes place in a tent that blocks the sun, takes just 30 minutes, making it a reasonable time option in the hot early summer weather.
ranzan8 lavender stick
ranzan9 lavender stick
ranzan10 lavender stick
Ogawa Town is a member of the National Kyoto Conference, so it calls itself Little Kyoto. The history of handmadeJapanese paper, Washi continues, and the brand Hosokawa paper is registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. Many historic buildings remain, and the town is just the right size to get around by renting a bicycle in front of the station.
ogawa town1 old stone storehouse NESTo
ogawa town2
ogawa town3 co-workspace inside
ogawa town12
ogawa town13
ogawa town14
ogawa town17
ogawa town18
ogawa town15 left
ogawa town16 right
Japanese paper as label of sake
If you go a little further by bicycle, there is a sake brewery which brews delicious sakes, Mikado-matsu, and you can also tour it’s inside. Knowing that the label on this sake bottle is made from Washi paper from Ogawa Town is proof that you are well versed in the culture of this town. Enjoy the rice malt dishes and desserts made with Daiginjo at the attached restaurant.
sake brewery3
sake brewery4 hard water without iron for sake preparation from 130m underground
It is said that Takehara began when Shimogamo Shrine in Kyoto developed the land based on the law of the Nara period that allowed the land that was cultivated by oneself to be owned by oneself. This law was the beginning of the manor system, and wealth was concentrated in those who had the financial power to cultivate the land by themselves, and it triggered the collapse of the world centered on the emperor.
takehara1
takehara9
takehara8
takehara2 chosei temple
takehara12 golden tree
takehara11
takehara16
Anyway, Takehara has a connection with Kyoto and still retains a townscape called Little Kyoto. Incidentally, the Kamo River, which has the same name as Kyoto, runs through the center of the city. Also, like Kyoto, sake brewing is thriving, and one of its descendants founded Nikka Whiskey in Japan.
takehara13
takehara4 takezuru sake brewery
takehara5 frontier of japanese whisky
takehara6 massann and lita
A feature that is completely different from Kyoto is salt making in salt fields. At that time, 80% of the salt produced in Japan was produced in Hiroshima Prefecture.
