About the Book

Book: The Cross at Morioka Castle

Author: Kathleen J. Robison

Genre: Historical Christian Romance

Release Date: July 15, 2025

Within this ancient land of shoji screens and tatami mats, Ariko finds that the stone ruins of Morioka Castle hide a mysterious secret that holds the keys to a Christian faith extending far deeper than she ever imagined.

Ariko returns to Japan, riddled with guild. Engulfed with grief, she must tidy up her deceased father’s affairs, and she faces the shattering of a dream. Her father’s small soba shop, a haven where he shared his faith, stands silent, and his wealthy family has long since turned their back on his legacy of faith. Ariko struggles with whether to return to the United States when her great-grandmother demands that she stay in Japan and join the family business, a legacy her father abandoned years ago.

Seeking escape, Ariko ventures to the enigmatic ruins of Morioka Castle, where the air hums with murmurs of the forgotten past. Amid the crumbling stones and ancient shadows, providence brings a striking stranger, and he captivates her with a tale woven into the very fabric of the castle – a legend that flickers with the promise of hope, just in time for a fateful Christmas Eve.

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My Review:

Japan, it's a place I've seen on TV, but not read as much about. This book takes me there. It has so many details that were just amazing. Ariko has gone home, to Japan, because her father has passed. She is torn between the States and staying in the land of her ancestors, to pick up the family business and carry it forward. I felt it so deeply when Ariko was pulled to the ruins of Morioka Castle. There she meets Kai, and with this "chance" encounter, she starts to learn secrets and how faith could be woven into the shattered remains of this grand castle. Ariko has some very heavy decisions to make: what faith she will follow, what's worth doing, where to live, even what to do as a job, and all of them are happening to her simultaneously, it would seem. I found this story to be beautiful, with a lot of depth, and I loved the Christmas theme worked into the Japanese setting. Now, I just need some hot tea while I reflect.

5 Big Stars

About the Author

Kathleen J. Robison weaves tales that inspire a walk of faith and a reliance on God’s guidance through life’s trials. With endearing characters, her stories are a testament to the resilience of broken lives, revived through hope and renewed through God’s grace. Kathleen and her husband call Southern California home, where they find joy in the company of their twenty-one and counting grandchildren.

More from Kathleen

Who doesn’t love castles, right? I fell in love with the ruins of Morioka Castle Park long before I wrote this novella. Both my sons and their families lived in Morioka when they first became missionaries, so we made trips to see the grandkids and a few trips to the castle ruins as well.

Morioka Castle in Northern Japan is a park of ruins, but what glorious ruins they are. In 1632, after twenty years of construction, the castle was completed by the Nanbu, a well-known Samurai clan. The castle stood from 1598 until 1874. Sadly, after serving feudal lords for two-hundred and fifty years, the age of the Samurai came to a close, and the magnificent structure was demolished. After the Boshin War, the Meiji government consolidated its power by abolishing domains and removing castles in lands that had opposed the government.

Thankfully, in 1906 a park was established around what was left of the granite walls and grounds of Morioka Castle. It’s where my character Ariko meets a handsome stranger and while touring the castle, learns of the legend of the cross.

“He explained the castle kitchen history, but his emphasis was on the cross. “The Castle Kitchen Cross, as I call it on my blog, is where an ex-samurai and his wife practiced their faith and shared it secretly with those who came to the kitchen. The cross carved in the stone, although obscured, was hidden behind pots and pans hanging on the wall.”

Ariko’s ears perked when he mentioned ex-samurai.”

The legend in the story is completely fictional. Although in my research, I discovered that there was a Christian Samurai who … well, if you read the book, perhaps you’ll discover what’s fact and what’s fiction! Just imagine walking the castle grounds with Ariko as she discovers the cross in the kitchen. What conflicts may it have caused in her ancestral Japanese family? Let The Cross at Morioka Castle whisk you away. Take the journey to Japan, where the ethereal land of the ancient is not so far away.