An evening tracing 2,500 lights at the Takeuchi Kaido Toro Festival in Taishi Town

Plan your walk around the lighting ceremony

The festival runs from 3:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., with the lighting ceremony at 5:00 p.m. You can plan how to spend your time at the venue by deciding whether to arrive around the ceremony or start walking earlier. Part of the fun is enjoying the illuminated route and stopping at stalls and events along the way.

The venue stretches from the Kasuga-nishi intersection in Taishi Town to Roadside Station Chikatsu Asuka-no-sato Taishi. Plan to walk this section rather than trying to cover the entire Takeuchi Kaido. Combine your stroll with stops at stalls and events, and follow the illuminated road.

The event information does not give details of individual stalls or activities. Rather than planning your visit around a specific attraction, you can make the walk along the road your focus and see what is happening at the stalls and events along the route.

The festival is scheduled for October 24 and will be postponed to October 25 if it rains that day. Check the weather and event updates when planning your visit.

Walk along part of the route between Naniwa and Asuka

The Takeuchi Kaido is a 26-kilometer road that runs from Oshoji in Sakai City across the Osaka Plain, over Takenouchi Pass and on to Nagao Shrine in Katsuragi City, Nara Prefecture. The festival does not cover the entire route; its venue is the section in Taishi Town between the Kasuga-nishi intersection and the roadside station. Walk a portion of this historic route beneath the lights.

The section of the Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan) for the 21st year of Empress Suiko’s reign (613 CE) records that “a great road was laid from Naniwa to the capital.” This passage describes the construction of a road linking Naniwatsu, a gateway port for diplomacy with the continent, and the capital at Asuka in Yamato. Because part of the Takeuchi Kaido follows this route, it is known as Japan’s oldest government road.

The festival route is also part of a historic road that once connected Naniwa and Asuka. As you enjoy the lights, stalls and events, you can reflect on where you are walking along this long route and how it came to be. Learning about the road’s history before your visit adds another dimension to your stroll.