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Hirakata is a city in northeastern Osaka Prefecture, Japan, on the left bank of the Yodo River about halfway between Osaka and Kyoto. Its name appears in the oldest Japanese chronicles, and today it is best known for Hirakata Park, the oldest amusement park in Japan still running, and for the legends of the Tanabata star festival tied to the plain of Katano.
In the 8th century the royal Kudara clan, descended from the kings of Baekje in Korea, built its temple here. In the Edo period Hirakata grew into a post town on the Kyō Kaidō road and a busy river port, where little boats sold food to passengers on the Yodo riverboats. The Keihan railway arrived in 1910, and the city grew into a large commuter town. Today it is home to about 390,000 people.
Walk the old post town and the riverside Kagiya inn, then explore the ruins of Kudara-dera and the alleged tomb of the scholar Wani. Spend an afternoon at Hirakata Park, stroll Yamadaike Park, and follow the Amano River of the Tanabata legend.
Hirakata-juku is the old post town of Hirakata, a stop on the Kyō Kaidō road between Osaka and Kyoto that ran along an embankment built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1596. It was also a river port, famed for little boats selling food to travelers, and some of its old houses still line the street.
Kagiya Museum is a former boat inn in Hirakata-juku, Hirakata, said to date from the 16th century and sung of in the old Yodo River boat songs. Its main house, thought to date from the late 18th century, keeps its river gate, and after years as a restaurant it opened as a museum in 2001.
Yodogawa Riverside Park is a national government park along the banks of the Yodo River, with a section in Hirakata near the old post town. Lawns, sports grounds and barbecue areas line the water, and the four seasons of the Yodo were chosen as the first of the Eight Views of Hirakata in 1984.
Igami Shrine is an ancient shrine in central Hirakata, near Hirakatashi Station, listed in the 10th-century Engi-shiki and dedicated to Takaokami, a water god who guarded the Yodo River. It moved to the wooded hill of Mannenji-yama in 1909, whose green shade is one of the Eight Views of Hirakata.
Kudara-dera Ruins in Hirakata mark the temple founded around 750 by Kudara no Konikishi Kyōfuku, of the clan descended from the last kings of Baekje in Korea. A Special Historic Site since 1952, it opened in 1965 as one of the first archaeological parks in Japan, its stone bases set among pines.
Kudara no Konikishi Shrine stands beside the Kudara-dera Ruins in Hirakata, honoring the ancestors of the Kudara clan, whose leader Kyōfuku presented gold found in northern Japan to the court in 749. Its main hall of 1808 was moved here from Kasuga Taisha in Nara, in the Kasuga style.
Tomb of Wani in Hirakata is said to be the grave of Wani, a legendary scholar from Baekje credited with bringing Confucian learning to Japan. The stones, long known locally as Oni-baka, were marked as his tomb in 1731 after a visit by Namikawa Seishō; it is a prefectural historic site.
Katano Tenjinsha is a shrine in the Kuzuha area of Hirakata, traced to the altar Emperor Kanmu set up in 787 to honor his father, Emperor Kōnin. Its wooded grounds are linked by tradition with the palace of Emperor Keitai, who was crowned at Kuzuha in 507, and are one of the Eight Views of Hirakata.
Hirakata Park is an amusement park beside Hirakata-kōen Station in Hirakata, which traces its roots to a chrysanthemum doll show held here in 1912 and is the oldest amusement park in Japan still running. Known as Hirapā, it fills 16 hilly hectares with rides, and draws 1.3 million visitors a year.
Yamadaike Park is a prefectural park in eastern Hirakata, set around the pond of Yamada-ike. Paths lead past iris and hydrangea gardens, flowering trees, a barbecue area and a bird sanctuary on Kasugayama, and the moon over its pond is one of the Eight Views of Hirakata.
Katano Shrine is an ancient shrine in the Makino area of Hirakata, said to have been founded by the legendary wrestler Nomi no Sukune and listed in the Engi-shiki. Sugawara no Michizane has been honored here since 960, and the cherry blossoms of Makino are one of the Eight Views of Hirakata.
Amano River flows 14.9 km from the Ikoma hills through Katano to join the Yodo River in Hirakata. In the Tales of Ise, the poet Ariwara no Narihira likened it to the river of heaven, the Milky Way, and its valley is rich in star place names that tie Hirakata to the Tanabata legend.
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