Twilight settling over Oka Castle’s stone walls

TAKETA & OKUBUNGO / A PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY

This town has
stories to tell.

Rentaro loved the moon.
Tadataka followed the stars.

Words and photographs by the owner of Mikazuki Coffee Roastery

After your coffee,
take a moment to look up at the sky above this place.

Time held in castle walls. Rooms that welcomed travelers.
Starlight crossing the highland night.

Through the landscapes the owner has encountered,
discover the stories of Taketa and Oku-Bungo.

The stone walls of Oka Castle ruins at dusk
Oka Castle ruins / Taketa, OitaEnlarge photograph

THE MOON OVER THE CASTLE

Rentaro,
who loved the moon.

Above the castle walls,
a familiar melody seems to linger.

Taketa, in Oita Prefecture, is a castle town where the atmosphere of the Edo period still lingers. Oka Castle, once the seat of the Oka domain, is known as an inspiration for “Moon over the Ruined Castle,” composed by Rentaro Taki, who spent his boyhood in Taketa.

A visit to this town begins with a musical welcome. As the train arrives at Bungo-Taketa Station, “Moon over the Ruined Castle” sounds across the platform. Said to be Japan’s oldest station melody, it greets everyone arriving here.

Rentaro’s music accompanies the drive, too. Route 502 from Bungo-Ono into Taketa plays “Moon over the Ruined Castle,” while Route 57 from Kumamoto and Aso plays “Hana” (“Flowers”). These musical roads have grooves cut into the surface that turn the sound of passing tires into a melody.

Then, on to the ruins of Oka Castle: its surviving stone walls and the mountains stretching beyond. Standing beneath the twilight sky, you can almost hear Rentaro’s melody drifting from afar, just as it still brings music to Taketa today.

For a moment, the castle’s former bustle and the passing centuries feel close at hand. Carry that feeling back to the Kyakuyashiki in the town below, and join us for a cup of coffee roasted in-house.

Our Kojo no Tsuki Curry is served with an egg that evokes the full moon and rice shaped to suggest the castle walls. Enjoy it with memories of your walk around Oka Castle.

The story of Kojo no Tsuki Curry Oka Castle ruins — Taketa City Tourism Association ↗
About the station and musical roadsBungo-Taketa Station — Taketa City Tourism Association ↗The history of station melodies — nippon.com ↗Musical roads — Kyushu Regional Planning Association ↗
The Milky Way above a stone arch at the former Chinda Falls power station. Photograph by the owner
Former Chinda Falls power station / Bungo-Ono, OitaEnlarge photograph

FOLLOWING THE STARS

As if guided
by the heavens,
Tadataka followed the stars.

Ino Tadataka’s remarkably detailed maps of Japan are still admired today. At the end of Bunka 7 on the traditional calendar, corresponding to January 1811, he stayed at this Kyakuyashiki during his surveys of Kyushu. More than a decade had passed since his first surveying journey.

Our popular rear room, the New Moon Room, offers sofas where you can relax. Tradition holds that this is the room where Tadataka slept.

He traveled across Japan, observing the heavens and measuring the land. That long journey also brought him to this room.

In Taketa and the surrounding Bungo region of Oita, you can still see skies full of stars that seem close enough to touch, much as he might have seen them. On clear nights, the Milky Way shines between Vega and Altair, the stars known in Japan as Orihime and Hikoboshi.

I took the photograph shown here at the former Chinda Falls power station in Bungo-Ono. Starlight stretches beyond its stone arch. Looking at that scene, I think of the traveler who followed the stars.

The owner is also a “star sommelier,” a guide to the night sky. Please feel free to ask about places to go stargazing around Taketa.

Tadataka’s journey and the Kyakuyashiki’s history The Kyakuyashiki and Ino Tadataka’s stay — Taketa City ↗
The Milky Way and an aircraft’s light trail seen through a car doorway in the Kuju Highlands. Photograph by the owner
Kuju Highlands / Taketa, OitaEnlarge photograph

MY IHATOV

An Ihatov
of the heart.

As the fierce summer heat began to ease, I went car camping in the Kuju Highlands.

I woke in the middle of the night and opened the door for some fresh air. There, alongside the Milky Way, ran the light trail of a night flight, like a train on the Galactic Railroad.

For a moment, I wondered whether Kenji Miyazawa, a writer I deeply admire, might have made Taketa another stop on his Galactic Railroad, had he known this place.

If Kenji were alive today,
I imagine he might say:
“This, too, is a kind of Ihatov.”

Words that came to the owner that night

“Ihatov”

It was the name he gave to an ideal land inspired by the richness of his native Iwate. Today, I think many admirers of Kenji carry an Ihatov of their own in their hearts.

Taketa is rich in nature, from its highlands to its naturally carbonated hot springs. Stone ruins and the history and culture of hidden Christians preserve vivid traces of those who lived alongside this landscape. Perhaps your own Ihatov is here, too.

Come to Taketa and see what you discover.

We’ll be here, ready to brew you a fragrant cup of coffee.

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES IN YOUR CUP

The memory of a starry sky,
in a cup of coffee.

Inspired by the comet of autumn 2024:
our original blend, Pilgrimage of the Stars.

The story of Pilgrimage of the Stars