sangimi no yado

Visit the castle town of Takatori Castle, one of the 100 most famous castles in Japan.

Takatori Town is a neighbor of Asuka Village.
The main street of this town, which is also famous for its medicines, is the Tosa Kaido, which still retains vestiges of the Edo period (1603-1867).
This time, we would like to introduce the “Takatori Castle Festival,” a festival held mainly along this Tosa Kaido.

Neighborhood of Asuka Village. What kind of town is “Takatori Town”?

Town of health and medicine.

Takatori Town is well known as the “town of medicine” and has a very long history.
It dates back to about 1,400 years ago. In the Asuka period (710-794), there was a big event called “Kusurigari (medicine hunting)” held by the ancient court of Japan.
“Kusurigari” means catching birds and beasts for medicinal purposes and picking medicinal herbs.
The Chronicles of Japan records that Emperor Suiko of the time, together with Prince Shotoku and his followers, conducted such activities in the mountains of Takatori.
The area of “Hata,” where the second kusurigari took place in 612 is thought to be in the area from Haneuchi to Ichio in present-day Takatori Town, and Hata Mika Shrine, the only shrine in Takatori Town named after Hata, still stands in Haneuchi.
The area of “Hata,” where the second kusurigari took place in 612 is thought to be in the area from Houchi to Ichio in present-day Takatori Town, and HatamikaI Shrine, the only shrine in Takatori Town named after Hata, still stands in Houchi.

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• Daranisuke, a Wakan-gastrointestinal medicine, is a traditional Yamato medicine with a 1300-year history.
  It is said to have been created by Enno Gyoja, the founder of Shugendo, an ancient Japanese mountain religion, and that the method was passed down to his disciple Goki, who then passed it on to the present day.
  It is said to be effective mainly for anorexia, hangover, overeating, and intestinal regulation.

Yamato Takatori Castle, one of the three great mountain castles in Japan.

• Yamato Takatori Castle is one of the three largest mountain castles in Japan, along with Bitchu Matsuyama Castle (Takahashi City, Okayama Prefecture) and Mino Iwamura Castle (Ena City, Gifu Prefecture).
  The castle was built on the top of Mt. Takatori, which rises 583.9 m above sea level, and boasted an extremely vast area of approximately 3 km around the castle and 30 km around the castle walls, making it an impregnable and highly respected mountain castle.
  The castle was demolished in the Meiji era (1868-1912) when the feudal domain was abolished and only the stonewalls remain today, but the magnificent stonewalls of the Honmaru and Ninomaru ruins remind us of the glory of the past.
  The ruins of Kunimi Yagura (a turret) offer a panoramic view from the Yamato Plain to Kyoto.
  Some visitors come on foot from Tsubosaka-yama Station, as there is a well-maintained hiking route.
  If you are visiting by car, you can enter from the Hachiman-guchi entrance, which leads from Prefectural Road 119 to the Tsubosaka-guchi gate, but parking is not provided, so park on the side of the road so as not to block the way of other vehicles.
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Tosa Kaido, the main street of Takatori Town.

• Tosa Kaido, the main street of Takatori Town, once prospered as the castle town of the 25,000-goku Takatori Domain, and at that time, as many as 500 merchant houses stood side by side.
  Tosa Kaido, the main street of Takatori Town, once prospered as the castle town of the 25,000-goku Takatori Domain, and at that time, as many as 500 merchant houses stood side by side.
  The rows of old houses with low eaves and lattice windows that remain today are wonderful and remind us of the bustle of the olden days.
  The stone pavement along the street, with waterways running along both sides, is said to have been made of stones from the restoration work after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake.
  The name “Tosa” was given by people from Tosa (present-day Kochi Prefecture) who worked to build the capital of the Yamato Imperial Court in the early Asuka Period and were unable to return to their hometowns afterwards.
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Let’s go to “Takatori Castle Festival”!

The Takatori Castle Festival is a major festival held annually on November 23 in Takatori Town, centered on the Tosa Kaido.
Food stall tents appear along the streets. Takatori Children’s Park will be the main venue for various events from morning to evening.
The highlight of the annual event is a demonstration of a flintlock gun by costumed gun squads and is a jidai gyoretsu (historical procession) that parades along the streets.
The Jidai Gyoretsu (Procession of the Ages) is a popular event in which a total of about 200 people in costumes, including brave armored warriors such as armor troops, flag bearers, princesses and retainers, parade along the Tosa Kaidosuji.
The 35th Takatori Castle Festival in 2023 was a great success, even though it had been four years since the festival was held due to the Corona disaster and weather.
The following is a report on the day of the festival, in which the author participated for the first time, along with photos.

Access to the venue.

• If you use the train, the nearest station is Tsubosaka-yama Station on the Kintetsu Yoshino Line, which is next to Asuka Station.
  It will take about 15 to 6 minutes to walk from the station to the main venue, strolling along the streets of Tosa Kaido. There are directions from in front of the station, so you will not get lost.
  Walking is recommended if you want to fully enjoy the stores and flea market along the way.
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• On the day of the Castle Festival, parking in the Castle Town area is not available. Also, due to traffic restrictions, private vehicles are not allowed to approach the festival site.
  If you are coming by car, please park at the Takatori Town Hall, which has a free parking lot for visitors.
  If you come by train, you can also use the shuttle bus. It is a 5-minute walk from Tsubosaka-yama Station to the Takatori Town Hall, with stairs on the way. We recommend using the shuttle bus on your way home.
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• From the parking lot, move to the front of the town hall, where a free shuttle bus runs by piston to the festival site.
  Board the bus and it will take you to the health center located behind the street. You can also board the return bus from here.
  From the health center, there is the “Town Station Kiseki”, from where the main venue, Takatori Children’s Park, is about a 4-minute walk away.
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Take a walk along the “Tosa Kaido. Introducing the highlights of the road.

Once you arrive at Tosa Kaido, you can begin your stroll!
This time, we took the shuttle bus and first came to the “Town Station Kiseki”.
This tourist facility is a former JA building that has been renovated to house the “Takatori Wakuwaku Market,” a direct sales market for agricultural products, and “noconoco,” a machiya (townhouse) cafe in a renovated old rice warehouse.
Nearby is Takatori Town’s tourist information center, Muso-kan, and the Kusuri (medicine) Museum, which is the center of Tosa Kaido sightseeing.

• “NOCONOCO” is a popular machiya (townhouse) cafe. It is open on the day of the Castle Festival, but a wait is essential. It is best to come early.
• Tourist Information Center “ Muso-kan”. It is a renovated kimono shop that flourished in the Taisho era. There is also a convenient map for walking around and a famous castle stamp of Takatori Castle.
• Behind the Muso-kan is the Kusuri (medicine) Museum, which is housed in a warehouse. Unfortunately, it was closed on the day of the Castle Festival, but you can take a peek from the outside.

Along the highway, samurai residences and town houses with renji lattices and mushikomado windows, as well as stone-paved streets, are attractive old townscapes that retain the atmosphere of the Edo period.
During the Edo period, it was difficult to live daily life in Takatori Castle on the mountain, so the residences of the feudal lord and his vassals were moved to the street.
The Takatori clan’s official merchants also gathered here, forming a castle town, and 500 merchant houses and town houses related to Chinese herbal medicine and medicinal herbs, which were the town’s main industries in the past, stood side by side.

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• In the past, oxen and horses were used to transport cargo, and iron rings were attached to the gateposts of merchant houses to tie them together with ropes. You can still see them today on the gateposts of the Kongoriki Sake Brewery.

“Tosa Kaido Nostalgia Museum” & “Seiho Awano Literary Museum”

First, look to the left with “Muso-Kan” in front of you, and walk up the hill on Tosa Kaido. As soon as you start walking, you will see signs for “Tosa Kaido Nostalgia Museum” and “Awano Seiho Literary Museum” on your right, and decide to enter.
This Kawanishi Residence displays valuable materials for tourists to view and is open to the public during events.
Inside were household goods and furnishings mainly from the Meiji and Taisho periods, tools used by medicine peddlers, and photographic materials from the past, giving a glimpse of life and work in Takatori Town at that time.
The museum also houses a portrait of the haiku poet Seiho Awano, who was born in Takatori Town, as well as a number of his personal belongings, and there are many other things to see.
Normally closed to the public, it is open to visitors free of charge during the Castle Festival.

• Family goods and photographs handed down in the Kawanishi family are on display.
• Tools and baskets used by medicine peddlers are on display, as well as signs advertising the pharmaceutical products of the time.
• The writing environment of Seiho Awano is reproduced. Visitors can also view a number of other valuable documents.

Main venue of the festival

Leaving Kawanishi Residence, we continue further up the hill.
At the main venue, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., there will be a variety of entertainment such as Japanese drum performances, Nankin Tamasudare, and Yosakoi dancing.
The gun squad demonstrated flintlock rifles and put on a ninja show once in the morning and once in the afternoon.
The author arrived at the venue just as the first ninja show was about to begin.
Spectators surround the main venue to watch the show.
Since you will need to sit on the ground to see the show up close, it is helpful to have something to put on your bottom.

• The main venue is crowded at all hours.
• This is a very popular ninja show that combines powerful action with the comedic parts of the show.
• During the ninja show, children in the audience are taught sword fights by ninjas.

After the ninja show, we started strolling again. The time is almost noon.
Around the main venue, food stall tents were lined up.
The food stalls were very popular, serving such delicacies as “Okina-nabe,” Takatori Town’s famous one-pot dish based on local cuisine such as Hodgepodge and Gonda soup, fried chicken made with Yamato Touki, which is closely related to Nara, other, oden, udon noodles, and more.
The area is filled with people eating and resting. A antique market is being held in the yard of the Takatori Kindergarten, and a free rest area has been set up.
The Takatori Town fire brigade also held an event for children where they could dress up in costumes and take pictures with a fire truck.

• There is a line at every tent.
• A antique market was held in the kindergarten yard by the main venue.
• The big fire truck was a big hit with the little ones!

Rest in a kitchen car.

From here, head down the Tosa Kaido Road toward Tsubosaka-yama Station.
The streets are crowded with visitors, and those in costume for the Jidai Gyoretsu are enjoying the time before the main event.
The most popular of all are the kitchen cars lined up in the parking lot of the Musokan.
On this day, there were kitchen cars of “Yamato Gojo MARUSE,” a gelato store in Gojo City, and “Almond Toast,” a soul food from Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture.
The garden behind the Musokan offers many benches and other places to rest, so many people took their meals here, and there were lines at all the kitchen cars and food stalls.

• A kitchen car with a stall next to the Musoukan.
• There is also a food stall at “Town Station Kiseki”.
• There are many places to sit and rest behind the Musokan, but this area is also crowded.

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• Gelato from Yamato Gojo MARUSE. From the four types in the lineup that day, I had a double portion of chocolate and sun-dried bancha tea.
  The smooth texture of the gelato is delicious with the savory aroma of tea and chocolate!
  The main store in Gojo City also offers tasty varieties of gelato, such as ume (Japanese apricot) and Narazuke（Vegetable pickled in sake lees).

Let’s look for delicious food on the street.

While descending from the Musokan, we strolled through the gourmet food along the street. We quickly found a tent that caught our attention.

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• Bansho specializes in Kakinoha Sushi in Takatori Town.
  Bansho’s Kakinoha Sushi, usually sold only as pre-order items or through online shopping, was available on the streets on the day of the Castle Festival.
  Bansho’s Kakinoha Sushi is “Smoked mackerel sushi” made from fatty mackerel smoked with Yoshino cherry chips and then frozen and aged.
  Specially prepared with no fishy smell, leaving only the aroma of cherry blossoms and the flavor of mackerel. This sushi has a reputation for being easy to eat even for those who do not like fish.
  Ingredients include “Toki Saba” brand mackerel from the Goto Islands, “Hinohikari” mackerel from Nara Prefecture, and Hidaka kelp from Hokkaido. In addition to mackerel, we also offer smoked salmon sushi using Hokkaido salmon.

There are two cafes along the street that opened through Asuka Village’s Challenge Shop.
One is “Suko,” a popular scone lunch featuring scones, which are once again enjoying a boom, as well as salad, soup, and quiche on a single plate. On the day of the event, the restaurant was open only for takeout.
The other is “Yusuraume,” a Japanese-style cafe featuring fluffy shaved ice made with pure, unadulterated ice from Hinode Ice.
On this day, we took out scones from “Suko”.

• On that day, Suko was only open for take-out. Reservations are a must if you want to have lunch during normal hours.
• “Suko” s take-out scones are also popular. Even during regular business hours, they are sometimes out of stock by noon.
• Yusuraume, a sweet shop.

Two places closely associated with medicine.

Here are two places that caught my attention while walking along the Tosa Kaido. Both places are associated with the town’s industries.

• TosaEbisu Shrine

  Here, on the right side of the main hall (left side as you face it), the Yakusosin is enshrined, and on November 22, the day before the Castle Festival, the “Shin-no-yakusojin Festival” is held.
  “Shennong” is a legendary Chinese figure who is said to be the god of commerce, agriculture, and medicine.
  Legend has it that Shennong himself chewed grass on the roadside to determine whether it was “medicine” or “poison” and compiled it into a book.
  The Yakusosin began to be worshipped in Takatori Town during the Meiji period, when the pharmaceutical industry was established in Takatori Town.
  It was the ancient Japanese god of medicine, Sukunahikono-no-mikoto, but as the culture of “Shin-no-san (Shennong)” spread and became popular in the medicine industry, the two deities were collectively worshipped as “Shin-no-san”.
  There is no record of where Shin-no-san was originally enshrined, and around 1965 a shrine was built at Shimotosa Ebisu Shrine, where it remains to this day.

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• Tsubosaka Kampo-do Pharmacy

  Specializing in Chinese herbal medicine for three generations in Takatori Town.
  2-story.
  The building is in the tsushi two-story style typical of Edo period machiya houses.
  The Renshi latticework and Mushiko windows attached to the windows also remind us of the street scene of those days.

  Business Hours

  9:00 – 19:00 (Closes at 12:00 on Sun. and holidays only)

  Closed

  Wednesday

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The parade of the Jidai Gyoretsu (historical procession) begins!

The Jidai Gyoretsu starts at the Yoshino Store (closed in November 2023) in the direction of Asuka Village and departs in turn at 1:00 p.m. Each group will parade for about one hour.
Stopping from time to time along the way, they will gradually advance along the Tosa Highway while performing and dancing, and finally enter the main venue in turn.
This time we watched the procession in the vicinity of Musokan.

• Two princesses and their retainers in gorgeous kimonos. The procession is made up of students from the local community association and International High School.
• The procession parades through the streets, performing dances and tricks at various points.
• Takatori Armor Squad. From then on, the procession of armored warriors in armor continues.

• Handmade armor Sanada-tai from Kishu-Kudozan. The “Sanada no Aka Zonae” (Sanada’s red armor) is vividly decorating the Tosa Highway.
• The “Osaka Castle Teppo Squad” who will demonstrate firearms later at the main venue.
• The Kouentai were very excited as they performed victory dances and raised the battle cry of victory in the circle of visitors.

The last part of the Castle Festival is a demonstration of firearms by armored Samurai.

• After the entrance of the historical procession, the second ninja show and the flintlock gun demonstration by the gun team will begin.
  I was not able to attend the first flintlock demonstration in the morning, so this was the first time for me to see the demonstration. It was impressive that there were so many spectators because of the ninja show that immediately preceded it.
  At 3:00 p.m., the members of the Osaka Castle Teppo Squad (Sakai Teppo Society) entered the venue to the sound of drums and conch shells.

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• Mr. Taira Sawada, the leader of the Osaka Castle Teppo Squad, who is also active as an appraiser of armor and old-style guns on TV programs, will provide commentary to the audience and give orders to the gun squad.
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• First, load the bullets.
• Get ready…
• Firing!

The sound of a firearm being fired up close is louder and more powerful than one might imagine.
The gunpowder used in flintlock rifles is black powder, which is also used in fireworks today.
The white smoke emitted when the guns are fired certainly reminded me of the smell of a fireworks display.

• I saw the firing live for the first time and the sound was very loud!
• Horseback Burrel. The way he holds the gun in the stance supporting the barrel with the gauntlet is cool.
• The short barrel is said to be difficult to handle. There are various postures depending on the size of the firearm.

I wanted to photograph the moment of ignition, but unfortunately, I could only capture almost all the smoke until the end….

In no time, the firearm demonstration was completed.
After the closing speech by the Mayor of Takatori Town, the Castle Festival is safely over.
Along the street, there were a few people here and there who started to clean up their stalls.
The shuttle bus to the town hall runs until about 4:30 p.m. an hour later, but since it was a brisk, clear autumn day, we decided to return to the town hall on foot this time, once again enjoying the Tosa Kaido streetscape.

Takatori Town Tourist Guide – The 36th Takatori Castle Festival

ACCESS

The nearest station to the Takatori Castle Festival site is Tsubosaka-yama Station on the Kintetsu Yoshino Line.
From the station, walk straight through the intersection in front of Tsubosaka-yama Station, and you will arrive at Tosa Kaido in about 2 minutes on foot.
If you are coming by car, use the free parking lot of the Takatori Town Hall. A shuttle bus service is also available between the town hall and the venue.
 

Takatori Castle Festival Guide Map

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