Mt. Takamatsu, well-known for its Daimonji lighting festival, is situated in Kabe Town, Hiroshima City. From old times Kabe was a key point of transportation, because it is a junction of Izumo and Iwami roads which both stretch to the Japan Sea coast areas, and also a meeting point of three rivers, Ota, Misasa and Nenotani Rivers.

In 1221, a warrier, Naotoki Kumagai moved here from Musashi (now Saitama Pref.) with his family and followers to become the lord of the Miirinosho manor in Kabe. He was given a reward from the Kamakura bakufu government in place of his father, Naokuni, who was killed in the Shokyu Revolt, in which the Gotoba-joko Emperor and his followers battled against the feudal government to take the power back, but they failed. Naotoki constructed his castle within the manor, and his clan gained strength 　gradually. The fourth lord of the clan, Naotsune, built a mountain castle on the summit of this 339-meter mountain to have a better strategic point for defense, making good use of its location between the Nenotani River which flows along the mountain and a deep valley behind the mountain.

The Kumagai Clan made the Kabe area a good castle town, serving as a retainer for the Mori Clan who ruled the whole Chugoku region, and prospered until 1600 when they were beaten in the Sekigahara War. Ieyasu Tokugawa won and set up the Tokugawa bakufu government. The Mori Clan was transferred to Hagi in Nagato (now Yamaguchi Pref.) from the Hiroshima Castle, and the Kumagai Clan followed them. Afterward the Takamatsu Castle was destroyed because of a "one-province one-castle policy" by the Tokugawa regime.

On the last Suturday and Sunday night of May, about 75 electric lamps are lit in the shape of a 50-meter long and wide Chinese character, Dai( 大) which means "big" on the south slope of the mountain as an event of Daimonji Festival. It dates back to 280 years ago when a big fire occurred, and most of the houses in Kabe burned down. At the time the local residents built a shrine below the mountaintop and enshrined a guardian, which was given by the Atago Shrine in Kyoto, to ward off fires, and they started lighting candle-lit lanterns which were hung from extended straw ropes from tree to tree in the shape of the Daimonji character. The tradition has been passed down by the local residents, though the lanterns were replaced by electric bulbs in 1964. The lighting up will begin at 7 p.m. and light for five hours to twelve midnight.

The hike will start at Kabe Station on the Kabe Line, from which a 2 kilometer-route goes north on the old road and crosses the Nenotani River at Kabe Senior High School to the foot of the mountain. From there, where the mountain's explanation board is, a 1.1-kilometer mountain trail leads you up to the old castle site.

�ŸGetting there

Take a train on the JR Sanyo Line and get off at Kabe Station. Read the explanation above.

�ŸSuggested Schedule

Hiroshima Sta.(9:22)===(Kabe Line)===Kabe Sta.(10:03)---

---Kabe Senior High School(10:30)---Mt.Takamatsu(11:30-13:30)---

---Kabe Senior High School(14:00)---Kabe Sta.(14:49)===

===(Kabe Line)===Hiroshima Sta.(15:25)