Matsumoto and its lovely Castle ♥

I reached Matsumoto quite early in the evening, so I decided to take a walk around the city and explore.

Lots of buildings retaining their traditional architecture.

There are a lot of bridges, as a river, Metoba-gawa, runs right through the middle of the city. They were flying carps across the river at Sensai-bashi, one of the more famous bridges in the city.

Also saw a store advertising horse cuisine…did not try it though!Horse meat is considered a delicacy in the region.

In the morning, I checked out early and dumped my luggage in the lockers at JR Matsumoto Station. The large lockers are 500yen for a day. Then I headed off for Matsumoto Castle.

The elegant Matsumoto Castle, a premier historic castle located in the center of the city. It is also protected as a National Treasure of Japan.

With its stone foundation and surrounding moat, against the backdrop of mountains and plentiful greenery, it truly was a sight to behold ♥


Built over 500 years ago, it is the oldest castle of its architectural style (donjon-style) in Japan.





Love how there's always mountains in the background when taking pictures in Matsumoto~!


You can actually enter the castle; walk inside it and up and down the 6 floors.


Admission is 600yen and includes access to the nearby museum as well, which showcased artifacts on the region’s history, culture and lifestyle in the past.

Inside the castle; these windows were used to fire arrows/ bullets/darts at enemies.

The inside of the castle is mainly wood, and the stairs to access each floor are extremely steep! Especially the one between the upper floors, which are not only high, but also have an average angle of 60°.

The view of the surroundings from the top floor of the castle~♥


It was a bit limited due to the shaped of the windows, but a beautiful panorama nonetheless.


One last photo with the castle after exiting.


There was a little exhibition outside showing the various castles in Japan.


Very pretty castles! ♥


Spotted LE Matumoto Castle/Nagano x One Piece/Chopper keychains. These joined my collection of melon-pan, Tateyama and Shinshuu.

Wandered along Nawate Doori Shoutengai, a little street of shops selling traditional crafts and food items.

The frog is symbolic of the place, so there were a plethora of frog-themed items!


Another bridge+river view!





Also came across a shrine along the street.





Saw the cutest little boy amusing himself by chasing pigeons! ♥ He was very energetic^^

Matsumoto is also associated with temari, a ball wrapped with intricate patterns made sole by rolling pieces of thread. Very colorful and eye-catching, there’s even a manga-artist/author who goes under the pen name of Matsumoto Temari; the author is originally from Matsumoto.

Then I headed back to the train station to set off for Kamikouchi, a mountainous highland area of the Chubu Sangaku National Park, located in the Japan Alps. A beautifully pristine and well-preserved place, they do not allow cars into the vicinity, thus the only way to reach there is via bus.

Time to be #aloneinthemountains again!