Takatsuki

Takatsuki City is a core city located midway between Kyoto and Osaka, and it developed as a commuter town for both major cities. One theory for the origin of the name Takatsuki traces back to the Jinmu Eastern Expedition recorded in the ‘Kojiki’ and ‘Nihon Shoki,’ when the emperor defeated a Yamato power figure named Nagasunehiko; the land granted to retainers was allegedly named ‘Takatsuki (Takatsuki)’ after a military emblem shaped like a crescent moon, and it was called ‘Takatsuki’ (originally written as ‘Takatsuki’) from that association. From the Muromachi period onward it came to be written as ‘Takatsuki.’ Because the local lord Takayama Ukon was a Christian daimyō, Christianity spread in the area, and in 1581 Japan’s first Easter celebration was held here. Takatsuki is the fourth-largest city in Osaka Prefecture by area, accounting for about 5.6% of the prefecture, with 31.6% designated as urbanized area. The remaining 68.4% is designated as urbanization control area, where development is restricted, preserving extensive forests and farmland. The city also has many green sightseeing spots, such as the Takatsuki Forest Tourism Center (an easy place to connect with nature), Ponpon-yama (where stamping your feet is said to make a ‘ponpon’ sound), and the Ama Archaeological Park, which preserves and utilizes the Yayoi-period Ama site.