Hirafuku Post-Station Town

Hirafuku spent a mere thirty years as a castle town, but later flourished in the Edo period as the largest post-station town on the Inaba Highway. There are still fragments of history around that tell of those times, such as old documents, ruins, and remains, as well as the streetscapes and items from daily life. The old buildings with their wooden grilles and thick earthen walls as well as the earthen warehouses and outdoor restaurants that line the Sayo River and reflect in its rippling waters, provide the atmosphere of a richly historic route….

●0.1 km from Hirafuku Station on the Chizu Line
●3 km from Sayo IC on the Chugoku Expressway
●Hirafuku area

Rikan Castle Ruins

Ikeda Yoshiyuki, nephew of Ikeda Terumasa (lord of Himeji Castle), spent five years building this mountain castle on the summit of Mt. Rikan (373 m). Its topmost tower seemed to pierce the very clouds, giving it the nickname “Cloud-Piercer Castle” (Kumotsuki-jo).

●4 km from Sayo IC on the Chugoku Expressway
●Hirafuku area

Kozuki Castle and Kozuki History Museum
Papermaking Traditions Museum

Kozuki Castle is known for having been attacked by Oda Nobunaga and the Mori clan forces in the Warring States period, and for being the last bastion of Yamanaka Yukimori, who had devoted himself to restoring the fortunes of the Amago clan. It was first built back in 1336, when Kozuki Kagemori, a descendent of the Akamatsu clan of regional governors, built a fortress on Mt. Taihei. His son, Moritada, moved his main base here later, marking the real start of Kozuki Castle. The museum houses exhibits related to Kozuki Castle and other castle sites within the town, as well as on the local Hayase china dolls.

●1 km from Kozuki Station on the JR Kishin Line
●9 km from Sayo IC on the Chugoku Expressway
●373 Kozuki
Tel. 0790-86-1616 (Kozuki History Museum)
● Open: Weekends

Ruri Temple

No. 33 in the New Western Japan Sacred Places/No. 11 in the Harima Western Japan

Sacred Places lists. Founded in 728 by the priest Gyoki by order of the Emperor Shomu as a temple for imperial prayers. With twelve main halls, including the Main Hall, the Golden Hall, and the Yakushi Hall, and a history of nearly thirteen centuries as a training center for chants and spells, it is one of the most important temples of the Koyasan Shingon Sect of Buddhism, and has been known by locals by the nickname “Western Koyasan.” An inscription on the bell in the Main Hall, registered by the prefecture as an Important Cultural Property, records that it was forged in 1369 and donated by the Akamatsu clan, with Gonnorisshi Kakuyu as the temple petitioner. The autumn leaves surrounding the temple are a spectacular sight.

●18 km from Harima-Tokusa Station on the JR Kishin Line
●23 km from Sayo IC on the Chugoku Expressway
●877 Funagoshi
Tel. 0790-77-0450

Mikazuki Domain Noino Mansion

In 1697, a demotion in rank for the Mori clan of Tsuyama Domain meant that Mori Nagatoshi, head of a branch house, moved to Mikazuki, becoming lord of a domain that included the counties of Sayo, Shiso, and Ibo and gaining an income of 15,000 koku (bushels of rice). The Noino area flourished for the next 174 years, until the Meiji Restoration, as the domain’s castle town. The watchtower is the only remaining Edo-period structure in the Noino Jinya, or Daimyo Mansion, and is also one of the few remaining watchtowers in any remaining jinya in the country.

●1.1 km from Mikazuki Station on the JR Kishin Line
●10.5 km from Sayo IC on the Chugoku Expressway
●966 Noino
Tel. 0790-79-3002