Left Kyoto very early this morning and headed into the mountains to Matsumoto. I recorded video of one of the Shinkansen arriving and departing, in case you didn’t get enough of trains in yesterday’s post.
This is what an empty regular Shinkansen car looks like.
I had to switch from the Shinkansen to a regular regional train at Nagoya, but the scenery along this route was beautiful.
The scenery on the Shinano line from Nagoya towards Nagano is hard to photograph, but beautiful.
Train, car, river, and mountain in parallel.
As we approached Matsumoto, some of the peaks ceased having trees on them, wearing a crown of snow instead. It was cloudy and grey when I reached Matsumoto station. I grabbed a snack, and then took a local train towards the Matsumoto Ukiyo-e Museum, which is out more in the suburbs/countryside.
The skies were grey when I exited the station.
There were lots of wildflowers on the way to the museum.
Fields either held food crops (lots of which had had rice) or wildflowers.
I am a big fan of Japanese woodblock prints; I have many books at home on Ukiyo-E prints. I was really excited therefore to go to the museum. When paying my entrance fee, the elderly man at the register smiled and quipped that those over 60 don’t have to pay the full price. I replied that I’m not quite there yet. There are only around 150 prints (out of a collection of 10,000) on display at a time. There is also a video showing the process of carving the blocks and making the prints.
You could experience the making of an Ukiyo-E woodblock print using stamps. There were three different designs of 4 to 5 colors each.
Only a small portion of the ten thousand prints held here are displayed at a time (and in darkened conditions) to help preserve them. The current exhibit was themed around fashion and makeup.
A few classics were also on display. I’m a huge fan of Utagawa Kuniyoshi, so was excited to see some of his. It was really cool getting to see these prints in real life.
Two of my favorite Utagawa Kuniyoshi prints are on the top row.
Google assured me it was only a 25-minute walk to Matsumoto Castle from the museum, so I headed back towards the city rather than walk back to the local train stop (where I could have had to wait up to 45 minutes). My feet would have probably preferred I hadn’t, but it was neat seeing a part of Japan that wasn’t city.
Field of what was rice, with kids playing baseball behind that.
I think this is my first time seeing eggplant attached to its plant.
Believe it or not, five minutes later I was surrounded by buildings and cars.
Here come the buildings! I think a much higher percentage of people in Matsumoto drive than in the other places I’ve been.
Overpass crossing train tracks. Sign says in big letters “No skateboarding! No dancing!”
I did eventually reach the castle and joined the slow moving line through the castle interior up to the top of the keep.
Matsumoto Castle was built in 1594 and is one of the few which have survived to now without having to be completely rebuilt (during the Meiji era it was unfortunately believed modernization meant completely abolishing the past).
Its nickname is the Crow Castle, due to its black color, but the most common bird I saw was the pigeon.
Pigeons looking regal.
There are koi fish in the moat happy for snacks (though the pigeons did their best to get the food first).
A gathering of koi.
Red bridge, black castle, and grey pigeons.
The entrance unfortunately is on the opposite side of the castle; the bridge is not open.
Matsumoto City’s mascot Alp-chan.
I then joined the long line to go inside the castle and up all six floors of the tower.
I watched him draw directions for someone in the gravel using the hilt of his short sword, as well as pose for countless photos with visitors.
Still in line, but closer.
There was a lot more decoration than I was expecting for a battle-oriented fortification.
View from the second floor. All visitors have to remove their shoes and place them in a bag while in the castle. I didn’t know about this beforehand, and so sockless I, along with a little girl and one old man, were the only left barefoot.
Armor of a gunman. One of the people who helped finance the modern day castle upkeep also collected historic guns used while the castle was active. Many of these were on display on the second floor.
View of the line outside from the sixth floor. The “stairs” were the most vertical scary stairs I’ve ever been up or down. You are prohibited from photographing around them for completely understandable safety reasons. The red seats in the upper left hand corner were where people in fancy kimono and suits were engaged in traditional tea ceremony.
Another view of the line-side, with a bit of the food tents surrounding the castle. The city is having a soba festival right now.
The bridge from six stories up.
Another version of Matsumoto City’s mascot Alp-chan, outside the castle gate.
A swan nestles against the castle foundations.
After making my way back down and putting on my shoes, I headed through Matsumoto back towards the train station, around where my hotel for the night is. I saw a a wedding procession in traditional dress. I really enjoyed the look of the buildings of Matsumoto in comparison to Hiroshima and Kyoto. I feel like they were more varied in design. Some were downright playful.
A number of street crossing signs have parallel rows of dots that count down to when the light will change.
I hope to sleep this well tonight.
A fun frog statue.
Determined cats on a bridge.
Red flowers on the bridge; mountains in the back. Almost makes me think of Garmisch.
The largest pendulum clock in Japan graces the outside of the Matsumoto Timepiece Museum.
The manhole covers depict temari, a local craft.
A cheeky bar I passed.
A side street in Matsumoto.
I’m staying in private rooms the rest of my trip with private bathrooms. This particular hotel has you take your shoes off immediately; they have to be stored in the shoe room while you are at the hotel.
Panorama of my room.
Bathroom. The tub is one you sit in. They provide an envelope of bath powder, but I’ll be passing as it unfortunately contains milk ingredients.
The phone looks fun.
Tomorrow I will be heading out early for Shinano and my most-anticipated stop.