Stop 8 : Matsumoto! Located in the north of the Japanese Alps a bit south from Nagano, Matsumoto is a nice city to visit on a day or two with many locations around to visit on a day trip.
I stayed in an hostel – Minka House – where I met many travellers, who had been in Matsumoto for a few days or so and visited many other areas in Japan. It was very interesting as we go to recommend as well as get recommendations on places to visit or see and websites to use or ways to travel on a budget.
Known for its « Crow castle », Matsumoto is less touristic than cities such as Fukuoka, Osaka or Kyoto but has many gems such as its castle, its old western-style school, its wasabi farms and its miso productions.
What to do/see ?
There are many places to see in Matsumoto from traditional places to craft stores.
I enjoyed visiting this city as everything accessible by foot, there is only a few minutes between each monument and main areas!
Itinerary example :
I started by going to Yoshihara temple, got a goshuin stamp and passed an outdoor thrift shop with a lot of choice! Then I went to Matsumoto castle, walked around the park before going in, the main tower, built in 1593-94, hosts a gun museum and displays some parts of the castle that were here before the Showa period. This is the only visitable tower of the castle and as in most of them you can admire the view over the city from the upper floor.
You can get a ticket for both the castle and the old school but only online, I couldn’t pass the payment part to be honest so I took a ticket in each and it wasn’t much expensive. (à préciser)
So after visiting the castle and its souvenir shop, I walked to the old school, beware that everything is in Japanese, there were maybe one or two signes in English but that’s it. It’s still a beautiful place to visit and it reminded me of old schools in France.
It was late in the morning so I started looking for a place to have breakfast and found a nice cafe where you can find craftwork from many local artisans. The owner is really nice and the cakes were made by his wife who studied pastry at the Cordon Bleu Academy in Tokyo and it was really cheap and good so I recommend it a 1000%.
He recommended me to go to the Edo street along the river where you can find many artisanal stores. He also recommended a wasabi farm in Azumino, where some people from my hostel went too and had a great experience making a kind of wasabi spread. You can try wasabi ice cream, soba, korokke or even wasabi beer! You can also enjoy rafting on the nearby river or taking a walk in the forest. The site is not only famous for its wasabi but also for being in the movie Dreams, by Akira Kurosawa.
Anyway, I went back to the street along Yoshihara temple where many craftshops, restaurants and food stalls had opened. There were so many things to see and try! I got a blueberry-basil ice cream at MDI Ice Cream, which had many interesting flavors! (I love that kind of place!!)
Then I took a look at Nakamichi street where you can still find some edo-style buildings and you’ll see a lot of ceramic stores, which is one of the artisanal specialities of Matsumoto. There are affordable and more expensive stores and a communal building, where you can find different artisans displaying there products.
After that, I went to Ishii miso brewery, finding many shrines on the way (where you can get a goshuin). This brewery has a restaurant and a boutique but also give a free tour of the production. Sadly the guides were already busy so they told me to visit by myself. It was fun to adventure myself in the buildings but a bit disturbing.
It was around 3p.m. so after, I went to an Aeon mall, there were many stores that you don’t find in the one where I usually shop and I finally found a beautiful cup, made in Japan. So if I had a recommendation it would be to, even if it might feel less authentic, go to japanese supermarkets/malls to find some gems to bring back home!
My day ended here but there are many more places to see!
What to see :
- Yoshihara shrine
- Matsumoto castle
- Kyukaichi School
- Ishii Brewery
- Matsumoto art museum
- Nawate street
- Kasamori Inari shrine
What to do :
- Cooking experience in a wasabi farm
- Rafting (in Azumino)
- Go to Kamikochi (hike)
- Alps park in the north of Matsumoto (only 2 buses a day)
- Go to utsukushi plateau (bus, car or hike)
- Kametaya sake brewery
- Soba making
- Mount Hachibuse (hike)
Culinary specialities :
- Miso
- Soba noodles
- Sanzokuyaki (Matsumoto-style stir-fried chicken)
- Wasabi
How to get there ?
From Kiso-Fukushima :
- Train : JR Shinano, to Matsumoto, 48min, 2520yen
- Train : Chuo Line, to Matsumoto, 1h20~, 990yen
From Nagoya :
- Train : JR Shinano, to Matsumoto, 2h05, 5940yen
- Train : Chuo Line, to Nakatsugawa, then to Matsumoto, 3h45, 3410yen
From Nagano :
- Train : JR Shinano, to Nagoya, 1h10, 2696yen
- Train : JR Shinonoi Line, to Matsumoto, 1h31, 1166yen
From Tokyo :
- Bus : Shinjuku-Matsumoto line, from Shinjuku station to Matsumoto bus terminal, 4h, 4500yen
- Train : Limited express chuo line, from Shinjuku station, 2h30, 6620yen
I truly enjoyed Matsumoto, it is a calm and warm city where I think that you can’t run out of things to do ! I would go back, to be able to try the hikes, especially Kamikochi and the rafting in Azumino!
Travel & Cake 
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