Ryusen-ji Temple (Gravestone of Rentaro Taki)

Rentaro Taki, one of Japan's most well-known composers, wrote "Kojo no Tsuki". This piano piece, which appears in Japanese junior high school songbooks, has been covered by artists as diverse as Thelonious Monk and the Scorpions. Among his ancestors in the Taki Clan were nobles who held important posts as chief retainers to the lord of Hiji Domain for many generations. Ryusenji is the Taki Clan temple where many feudal retainers have been laid to rest. The Taki Clan graves, including that of Rentaro, are still here. The hibachi stove that Rentaro habitually used when he was studying abroad in Germany has been left at Ryusenji. In the outermost regions of the former castle, traces of his father's family home also remain. Although Rentaro Taki's tomb was originally located in Oita City's Manjuji Temple, it was relocated to the Taki Clan gravesite in 2011 upon the wishes of descendants, who wanted him to be laid to rest with his ancestors.
In front of Ninomaru Yakata is a bronze statue of Rentaro Taki. In the autumn, a memorial music festival is held in tandem with the Hiji Culture Festival. On Hiji's disaster prevention PA system, his music plays at regular intervals. In these ways, Rentaro Taki has become known as a man from Hiji.
The names of the songs played at the time signal:
12:00 "Hana" (Flower)
17:00 "Suzume" (Sparrow)
10:00 "Kojo no Tsuki" (Moon by the Castle Ruins)
Note: These are only played during periods such as spring and summer vacations.