Takeda Castle is a ruined castle in Asago, Hyogo prefecture. It is located in the northern part of Hyogo and north-west of Kyoto. The castle was built on the top of the mountain at 353 meters of altitude. This castle were built in 1431 and today this is well-known as a castle in the sky or Japan’s Machu Picchu and its ruins becomes one of the most famous castle ruins existing in Japan in recent years and picked as one of the top 100 castles in Japan.


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Early morning time during fall, A dense fog appears and rolls over the ruins that creates the beautiful scenery as if the ruins is floating on the sea of clouds. It is even more breathtaking when there is the light of the morning sun reflecting on the clouds.


According to the Asago local information, the sea of clouds is made by the fog which come from the Maruyama river flowing under the mountain and in the early in the morning during fall and early spring, the fog rises into the air to the middle level of the mountain and create a sea of the clouds, the Unkai.

The Unkai is created when the site meets the following conditions;
1) There is marked temperature swings between the evening and the midday
2) High humidity
3) Sky without clouds
4) Low wind

The site shows beautiful side even if you cannot meet the condition and couldn’t see the sea of the clouds. During other time of the year, the ruins shows you different faces that many people fell in love with. During the summer time, you see the shadow of the clouds go through the ruins and create a gradation of color moving through the lawn of the site which make you feel like you are up in the sky.

Takeda castle was actually used from 14th century to 16th century by Ohgtaki Mitsukage, lord of the local area and oversee the castle and the surrounding area for 5 generations. The castle was primarily built by the order of The Lord Shozen Yamana to protect the Tajima region from afressions of Harima and Tanba regions. The castle was conquered by Hideyoshi Toyotomi, the general in his Tajima campaign of 1577.

They used to have a castle tower in the site though it is gone now. However with the magnificent and marvelous view of the ruins which is harmonized with the beautiful nature, they keep the dignity and many people get attracted by that.

To get there by train, get off at JR Takeda station in Bantan line and there is a shuttle running from the station to the entrance of the site.