Sakura Viewing Spots② Takato castle
Sakura Festival :2,Takato Castle Site Park(高遠城)
Takato Castle Site Park is located in Takato Town, Ina City.
The Ina area is a basin surrounded by the Southern Alps to the east and the Central Alps to the west, at an elevation of about 1,000 meters.
At the beginning of the Meiji Restoration, many castles belonging to local clans were destroyed.
However, the stone walls of Takato Castle remain and are now preserved.
Samurai who once served at Takato Castle brought Edohigan Zakura (Cerasus spachiana var. spachiana forma ascendens), a protected species of cherry tree, and planted it within the castle grounds.
There is a tragic story about this castle. In 1582, Takeda Nobumori and his 3,000 soldiers died with honor in battle against 50,000 troops of the Oda family.
Today, Takeda Shrine stands at the corner of the castle tower to honor their souls. A very old weeping cherry tree (Cerasus spachiana f. spachiana) was planted afterward, and it has grown even older over the years. This ancient tree blooms each year in mourning for the Takeda family who perished at this castle.
During the Sakura Festival, you can see small Edohigan Zakura trees blooming around the castle in the daytime. At night, you can enjoy a special experience walking along the illuminated path known as Yozakura. Takato Castle Site is located on a hill surrounded by mountains, and the nighttime air becomes colder due to the high-altitude basin. The cherry blossoms at night look truly different from those in the daytime—especially here.
Yu-pon walked from the First Keep (Honmaru) to the Second Keep (Ninomaru), and then to a separate small castle.
On the way, she saw a misty orange moon framed between sakura branches and blossoms.
That hazy moon gradually changed its color from white to glowing orange, drifting gently into the pink cherry blossoms.
In the cold air, Yu-pon recalled the short literary piece titled “Beneath the Cherry Trees” by Motojirō Kajii (1901–1932).
The story opens with the striking line: “There are bodies buried beneath the cherry trees!”
You’ve got to believe it. Otherwise, how could you possibly believe that cherry trees bloom so beautifully? I’ve been feeling unsettled these past two or three days, unable to accept such beauty. But now…
— Beneath the Cherry Trees by Motojirō Kajii, December 1927
Some commentary on kusakizome, a traditional vegetable dyeing method in Japan, mentions a pink dyeing technique called “sakura dyeing,” which uses cherry tree branches or trunks—but not the flowers.
It is said that something stored within the branches and trunks allows the fabric to be dyed pink, and this rumor may have originated from that fact.
The origin of something to dye pink must be a blood of human being, Sakura have been sucked blood up under the ground. So it can say that there is a dead body under a sakura tree.
When gazing at the night sakura at this castle, you might feel the same feeling as Motojirō Kajii felled about Sakura flower’s frightening beauty.
A hazy, drifting moon, the chill in the air, the silence, and the enchanting charming Edohigan Zakura not to say anything. — That alone is more than enough.
Access
| Name; | Takato Castle Site Park |
| Place; | Takato-Machi Higashitakato, Ina-shi, Nagano Prefecture |
| Access; | from Ina city station (JR Iida line) 25min JRbus to Takato bus stop walking 15min, from Chino station (JR CHuo line) 1h by bus in season, many sightseeing bus for Takato Sakura in season |
| By car; | exit Ina I.C (Chuo expressway) 30min,exit Chino I.C(Chuo expressway) 1h |
