Takeda Castle

Background

Takeda Castle ruins stand on a mountaintop in Wadayama, Asago City, in northern Hyogo Prefecture, north of Himeji, about 353 metres above sea level. The site commands the junction of the San'indo highway from Tanba to Inaba with the road south to Harima and the Seto Inland Sea, and it lies close to the Ikuno mine, one of Japan's largest silver mines in the Muromachi period. Takeda Castle is recorded as having been built around 1441 by Otagaki Mitsukage, a retainer of Yamana Sozen, though many details are unclear and the date is uncertain. After Toyotomi Hideyoshi subdued Tajima, the lord Akamatsu Hirohide rebuilt the castle on a large scale: he kept the basic layout of three ridges running out from the summit, each shaped into baileys that follow the natural terrain, and added stone walls and dry moats. The castle was destroyed at the end of the Sengoku period, leaving only its foundations and stone walls. It has been a National Historic Site since 1943 and was listed among Japan's Top 100 Castles in 2006. Because the ruins are often above the cloud layer, they have become a popular attraction; locally they are called "the Machu Picchu of Japan", and some also call them "the Castle in the Sky".

Local customs

• Follow the trail up through the ruins to the summit to see the stone walls and the baileys on the three ridges
• on a sea-of-clouds morning, look across from the high ground on the far side of the valley at the ruins floating above the clouds
• continue to the nearby Ikuno silver mine area
• climb in the cherry blossom or autumn foliage season to see the mountain colours.

Travel tips

• The walk up to the castle from Takeda Station on the JR West Bantan Line takes about 60 minutes on a very steep mountain path, so wear good walking shoes
• you can also use local buses to shorten the walk, with services and opening arrangements as officially announced. The sea of clouds does not appear every day
• it usually forms in the early morning, and whether you see it depends on the day's weather.
• Spring cherry blossoms and autumn foliage are both good times to climb
• in summer, guard against the heat and drink plenty of water. From the Himeji direction, take the Bantan Line north.