Sakura Festival :2,Takato Castle Site Park(高遠城)
Takato Castle Site Park is located Takato Town Ina City.
Ina area consists of basin which is sandwiched fenced by South Alps to the east and East Alps to the west in high altitude of 1000m. In start of the Meiji Restoration, many castles of local clan were destroyed. The Stone walls of this castle is remaining and preserved now. The samurais who served work at Takato Castle bring Edohigan Zakura( Cerasus spachiana var. spachiana forma ascendens) a protected species of plant to be planted to the inside of the Castle.
There is a sadness story about this Castle. At the 1582 Takeda Nobumoriand his 3 thousand soldiers died for honor against The Oda Family 50 thousand soldiers. Now,Takeda Shrine was built to repose of their soul in the corner of the Castle Tower. And very old Shidare Zakura(Cerasus spachiana f. spachiana) was planted after that any now this sakura got very older. This old Shidare Zakura blooms for mourning to Takeda Family died in this castle every year.
In daytime you can see the small size Edohigan Zakura are blooming around the Castle during Sakura Festival. In the night-time you can have a special experience on your night walking which is lighted path called Yozakura. Takato Castle Site is up to the hill by surrounded mountains, the air temperature at night goes colder because of a mountainside basin in hight altitude. The cherry blossom of the night scene is really different to daytime especially here.
Yu-pon walked from the 1st Keep(Honmaru) to the 2nd Keep(Ninomaru) and to the separate small castle, on it’s way Yu-pon saw a misty orange moon in between the sakura branch and flowers.
That hazy moon changed its color from white to shining orange and moves toward inside the pink cherry blossoms.
In a cold atmosphere, Yu-pon remembered the short noble title “There is a dead body under a sakura tree” by Motojirō Kajii (writer 1901-1932).
Opening of the story starts by saying : There are bodies buried beneath the cherry trees!.
You’ve got to believe it. Well, otherwise you couldn’t possibly believe that cherry trees could bloom so beautifully. I’ve been out of sorts these past two or three days, because I couldn’t believe in such a beauty. But now….
BENEATH THE CHERRY TREES by KAJII Motojirō (梶井基次郎) December 1927
Some commentary for Kusakizome which is a vegetable dyeing in Japan is saying that there is a pink color dyeing way named sakura dyeing by using sakura branch or trunk but not using sakura flowers.
The something saved up inside of sakura branch and trunk is able to dye pink, so that this rumor was arrived from this things.
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. Looking Sakura flowers in nighttime of this Castle makes you feel the same feeling as Motojirō Kajii felled about Sakura flower’s frightening beauty.
A hazy and misty moon, a cold atmosphere, a silence and charming Edohigan Zakura not to say anything. That is all 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 |
