Matsumoto

Yesterday (Sunday), my friend Wynne and I went to Matsumoto, which is a castle city about two and a half hours north of Tokyo by train.

We went by Azusa express train from Tachikawa, and that left at 9.30am and arrived just before noon. It cost quite a lot (Y5,870 one-way) because you have to pay the express fee on top of the normal ticket. (You can take normal trains all the way as it's all the JR Chuo line, but it takes hours and hours and the price isn't too different in the end.) Wynne and I bought our tickets at a ticket machine on the platform, and you can't buy the express ticket from them, so we had to get an extra one from the conductor once we were on the train.

There were lots of nice sights as we left Tokyo and zoomed north through the Japan Alps. As it's winter, the weather was cold but clear.



When we arrived at Matsumoto, the announcement was very funny, with an extremely elongated "Matsumotooooooooo".




We were quite hungry when we arrived, so our first port of call was lunch. We walked through the town (and it was noticeably colder than Tokyo, with the higher altitude) and found a restaurant that had one of Matsumoto's specialities - kake-soba (掛蕎麦) noodles.


The noodles were delicious, and came in a very warming broth. But the green tea that came with it was the best thing - it was smoothest tea I've ever drunk. And it warmed me right through.

After lunch we wandered through the town towards its main attraction, the famous castle. It's one of Japan's four castles listed as National Treasures. Walking through the town, you could always see the Japan Alps over the buildings, and they were covered in snow, so it was really lovely.

And there it is! Matsumoto Castle! (松本城, Matsumoto-jou.)

You can walk round the side for free, but then you have to pay to go into the grounds and inside the castle itself.

This is my favourite photo that I took of the castle. I was so happy to finally be standing there, as I didn't get a chance to get to Matsumoto the first time I came to Japan.

The entrance fee was only a few hundred yen, but they also had a student discount, so it was even cheaper for us.

The inside of the castle was much like any other interior I'd seen in Japan, but it had nice views of the surroundings and the mountains in the distance.

This was the top room, which you could only get to by traversing a single narrow staircase.

After exploring the castle and its grounds, we went to the nearby museum, which was included in the price of the ticket.

They had a few stands of ornamental dolls because Japan's Doll Festival (雛祭り, Hina Matsuri) is coming up in early March.

They also had a display of wooden phalluses, which were used in traditional festivals in the area.

After the museum, we went to a famous old bookstore in the centre. It was crammed full of old newspapers, magazines and books. I nearly bought an old Japanese magazine from the 50s, but it cost Y3,500 and I was already over my budget, so I decided not to.

After that, Matsumoto doesn't have a lot of attractions, but we wandered around a couple of Shrines and then went to see this clock. Every hour on the hour the clock opens and figures of children playing instruments dance in a circle.

It was very cute, but we ran to catch it, and then realised that it wasn't really worth the hurry, but it's nice if you're in the area on the hour.

We weren't hungry for dinner yet, so we went to see a traditional well a short walk from the city centre. On the way we passed this random penny-farthing bicycle! I never expected to see one of those just randomly on a street in Japan!

I tasted some of the water from the well, and it was delicious. Really clean and clear. I wish I'd brought a bottle to fill up!

For dinner we went to a restaurant that was recommended in the guidebook, Kura, and it served another of Matsumoto's specialities, raw horse meat (馬刺し, basashi).

It opened at 5.30, and we were waiting outside in the cold (as the sun went down the temperature dropped to near zero). It was gone 5.30 when someone inside noticed us and opened the doors.

We knew what we wanted - horse! It was quite expensive, but definitely worth it. It was such gorgeous tender meat. I really enjoyed it.

The basashi was quite small between the two of us, so we also got some sushi and a seafood rice bowl. What a dinner!

We had to finish dinner quite quickly because we wanted to catch the 18.35 train back to Tokyo. But we made it in time, and the sunset seen from inside the station was amazing!

We got back to the guesthouse at about 9.30pm, so it was quite a long day, and we were really tired on the train home. But it was a wonderful day - so nice to finally see Matsumoto Castle!