Takeda Castle Ruins - Castle in the Sky

What?
The Takeda Castle Ruins are some beautifully preserved remains of the Izushi Castle - as it was originally named - on top of a 353meters high mountain. In the days that the keep was still standing it must have been impressive. Now the ruins are mainly known for the appearance that they only take a few times a year: as a castle floating on the clouds.
Where?
Located almost in the center of Hyogo Prefecture Takeda Castle is easily reached by train although it takes a while to get there. JR Takeda is the station to get off, after which a short hike up the mountain takes place.
URL
Japan Guide Outline Asago City

It was cold. Very cold and quite dark. Darker than you are used to in this country where screaming neon signs are never far away.
We were on our way to the “Castle in the Sky”, as the Japanese tend to name it after Mr. Miyazaki’s movie (while he in turn might have based his design on the castle remains).
The Takeda Castle Ruins are not that hard to reach. However, people do say that the image of the castle floating in the air can only be seen in the early morning. And that makes it hard to reach at the correct timing.
So we took a nightly bus tour from Osaka that was set to arrive before early morning, in the dead of night.
While the idea behind such a bus tour is great, the timing was somewhat off. We arrived way too early. The positive thing is that we arrived when the ruins were still illuminated. Lights go out at around 5:30AM to prepare for a beautiful sunrise. At least that’s the intention. In reality we walked the ruins once while illuminated, and when the lights were turned off there was nothing but darkness. And rain. Cold rain. So due to this rain it was also impossible to enjoy any sunrise, nor the shrouding in clouds. Mind you, the mist created almost the same gloomy atmosphere. But here’s the other pickle: you’re standing ON the ruins, not at a panorama platform to admire them…

Illumination during the night.

Slowly darkness makes way for mist.

Let me be honest, even in this horribly cold and wet weather, the ruins were beautiful and had something mesmerizing and mysterious. There were already quite some tourists present before darkness turned to light, but the ruins are spacious enough so it didn’t become a bother. In this sense I can definitely recommend taking a detour to this place. I know I will definitely go back to admire them from a panorama view and maybe to hike a bit in the surroundings. But unfortunately this trip at this particular moment will be mainly remembered as being cold. So very, very cold.