Takato Travel Guide

 tompt Says:  At this temple are many stone statues. The temples signature is the buddha statue in front. The one with the ring around its head. But we liked other statues better. 

 tompt Says:  At the castle ruin park was this street vendor. He sold the above mentioned fish. As we were interested and asked questions about the fish we began to tell about the game. He hunts himself and shot deer and wild boar. He insisted on preparing some game for us too. Well we... 

 tompt Says:   The atmosphere is very warming when you sit at the fire where the fish is being roasted. 

 tompt Says:   In our minshuku we had some delicious fish. It was cleaned put on a bamboo stick, salted and roasted over an open fire.It was great! The next day we saw the same fish roasting at a streetvendor and couldn´t resist...... 

 tompt Says:  As our landlady already asked her husband two times if we ate things like sashimi (raw fish). We stated: ' we eat everything you serve'.Wow, were we wrong to do so ?!She served us a table full of little plates filled with local dishes. There was raw horsemeat... raw squid... 

 tompt Says:  If you decide to use public transport, this is where you will enter Takato. The Takato busstation. In season there is a special shuttlebus going to the cherryblossom park.If you are in the mood for a walk think again: it is more then 1 kilometer and it is uphill......How to... 

 tompt Says:  As most visitors do come with their own car the traffic is regulated by making many streets one way streets. It seems to work in some parts of Takato. But to get into Takato they all have to take the same road. 

 tompt Says:  There are many tourbusses on the parkinglot of the castle ruins park. This suggests it is not difficult to join a tour to Takato. 

 tompt Says:  As the Sakura season is only one or two weeks everybody visits in the same period. The cars are travelling in rows. When we arrived with the bus from Ina it took us half an hour to go 500 meters forwards.So think twice before going by car in the season......... 

 tompt Says:  During the blossom period the park is also open at night. The trees are lit from below. And some people brought gaslamps for their picknick. 

 tompt Says:  The people who are not making money from it are going to the Sakura. They take lots of stuff with them, like food and drinks but also things to sit on. 

 tompt Says:  All people in Takato live for or by the sakura. This little group is not enjoying the sun as it seems. But they are watching a few parked cars on their land. Many people open their land or fields for parking during the sakura season. This way they earn a few yen. Most... 

 tompt Says:  Takato is just a small village in the mountains. There are still many houses build in the oldfashioned way, with clay.Straw mats are covered with clay and wooden beams hold everything together.