This is what an empty regular Shinkansen car looks like.

The scenery on the Shinano line from Nagoya towards Nagano is hard to photograph, but beautiful.

Train, car, river, and mountain in parallel.

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.

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.

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!”

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.

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.

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.

The entrance to the shrine’s grounds begin immediately when you exit the train station.

This fox holds a jewel in its mouth.

The key in the fox’s mouth is supposed to be to the rice granary.

Rice, sake, and other goods offered to the Inari.

An offering of tuna.

It started out very crowded (though judging by the train station, I left before it got *really* busy).

Each one of these gates was donated by a business. A message - typically the name of said business- is carved in black on the other side of the torii’s posts.

The further up the mountain (Mt. Inari), the fewer people there were. I didn’t climb up all the way to the top; my feet still ache from visiting the monkeys.

There are lots of these little shrines along the path (and the little red gates count towards the thousand).

Lots of white foxes.

The mountain is a labyrinth of shrines and gates.

Up and up. I don’t think I even got halfway before taking one of the available down routes, but all the way to the top is 233 meters, or 764 feet.

Some of the main buildings with offerings being given and prayer tablets available for sale.

The oldest British-style steam locomotive completely manufactured in Japan, from 1903.

Sort of what my train to the shrine was like this morning, except without being packed full of people.

Though most were closed off for preservation reasons, a few of the cars were opened up to allow visitors to walk through.

The first DC electric train manufactured in Japan in 1928.

“In Japan there is an ancient custom of removing footwear before entering into a house. When the railroads first opened business, it seems that people who were not used to this new vehicle yet would unfortunately leave their footwear on the platform when boarding the train.”

The first steam locomotive imported from Britain, back in 1881.

A 1960 diesel.

“Nostalgia Shop” - what a Showa-era candy stand looked like.

A small vehicle from the Showa era.

A DC electric locomotive from 1968.

They had tunnels under a couple of the engines so you could see them from below; this is under a DC electric locomotive from 1968.

From 1996, the first Shinkansen to hit (a then record) 300 km/hr (186 mph).

Wheels and bogies for various types of trains.

A variety of signals, which you can operate via pedal.

Two EMU trains; the one on the left is from 1968, and featured seats that could transform into beds. The one on the right is from 1971.

They had a room of Japan Rail promotion logos; this one was my favorite.

Train on-board bathrooms have come a long way. The museum had an exhibit for every aspect of the train - handles for standing passengers, seat designs, entrance gates, climate control systems, you name it.

What’s a train museum without Thomas? I definitely saw more than one little kid wearing a Thomas shirt.

More Thomas.

View of the main museum building from the second floor.

There is a wall of train-themed music.

Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion, or Transforming Bullet Train Robot Shinkalion, toys. There is an anime, of course.

The museum’s sky terrace offers a nice view of the trains heading towards and from Kyoto Station.

A steam locomotive built in 1914.

A steam locomotive from 1946.

Left to right: a 1946 steam locomotive, a 1927 steam locomotive with chrysanthemum and phoenix motifs, and a 1928 steam locomotive.

This little steam locomotive was imported into Japan from the United States in 1880.

This roundhouse was initially built in 1914; it has special historical designation.

Walking back from the Railway Museum, I chanced upon the Kyoto Aquarium, saw the giant salamander here, and thought, why not? These giant salamanders apparently live in the river I crossed yesterday.

They have little tanks showing the life cycle of the Japanese Giant Salamander, before it becomes giant. It doesn’t stay axolotl-like for very long at all.

They really like just piling up on one another. Humans for size comparison. There are apparently two species of Chinese salamander that are bigger.

“Compare your height to the biggest Giant Salamander in the aquarium!” The person who was nice enough to take my photo laughed when she saw I was the same. In the past I’ve measured 160 cm; not sure if my shoes and hat make up the extra one. In short, though, I am basically a giant salamander.

Sea lion rolling around.

The large tank was comprised of the fish, rays, and sharks that can be found in Kyoto’s bay along the Japan Sea.

South African penguin.

If you like jellyfish, this aquarium is great. They have lots of tanks showing how much moon jellyfish grow - from barely perceptible little spots in the tank representing the first few days. There are multiple other species of jellyfish on display as well.

These little garden eels are the coolest.

“Hi!”

Do they even know what their tails look like?

There were a few small tanks of fish.

This tank also had blue tang and clownfish, because all aquariums are required to have those thanks to Pixar.

Anemone and anemone-liking fish.

I was getting worried there wouldn’t be a single turtle.

There was no dolphin show today, but I did get to see this one receive a massage.

Walking back to my hostel from the aquarium. My feet are pretty dead.

It’s hard to capture just how tall the bamboo is.

Part of Nonomiya Shrine, which is along the Bamboo Path

The rest was free of spiders, but there was one stretch of trail that was full of joro spiders. I thought of my sister. I also thought about how Princess Kaguya would have been about the size of one of these when found by the bamboo cutter in the folktale.

An incredibly rare quiet moment, fleeting as moments are. Those bicycles were soon ring-a-ling-linging past.

I tried to avoid crowds by going really early, but it was still very packed. I now have a particular hatred for selfie sticks and couples.

Bamboo cutters cleared out a bit here; who knows if they found a little Princess Kaguya?

There are temples, graveyards, and private residences along the bamboo path.

I don’t know what animal this guy is, but his Smoky the Bear like message is to watch your cigarette butts since mountain forests are prone to fires.

Silhouette of the bridge.

The water was very clear. I saw some ducks. On the road, I saw some rickshaws.

There are a series of small waterfalls as the river goes under the bridge.

These are some of the cooler looking boats. There were also lots of the blue standard-fare pedal boats.

Bridge viewed from the city side.

The bridge viewed from the Arashiyama-side.

Watching people watching people boat.

This way to Monkey Park

You don’t want to be a dead monkey. This vending machine basically only sold water.

The answer to the first question is B -macaque. The answer to the second question is A - cicadas. And the answer to the third question is all of them.

The path to Monkey Park is long and arduous, though there are benches along the way. And, when you are 95% of the way there, there is also a playground in case your kids somehow still have energy.

This one is on his break.

It was worth the ¥600 just for the view alone.

I really like the baby monkeys.

160 meters is a lot of meters. My feet and knees can attest to that.

This one is snacking on some leaves.

They are omnivorous.

She is carefully grooming one of her friends, who is laid out super relaxed-like.

Looking at a monkey looking at people looking at a different monkey.

He’s king of the rooftop. In this building were restrooms and monkey food you could feed to them through the safety of some bars.

This little guy was cute. He did his best climbing and swinging, even though he is still figuring both out.

Again, crazy good view.

If your hips are narrow enough, you can save yourself some steps.

Turtle.

Heading back on the train to go one stop to the theme park.

It’s nice to know that even in a country where trains are ubiquitous that people still excitedly film the trains coming and going.

I got a free tiny photo of myself in front of the true to size top half of the Evangelion mecha. You can climb to the top and sit in the pilot’s seat, which just made me wonder how mecha pilots don’t do more accidental damage - everything is so small when one is so high up.

My pilot synchronization score was “Nope, you are a (likely doomed) civilian.”

“Angels” (giant monsters) from Neon Genesis Evangelion.

It was fun wandering down the streets, peering into the buildings which often had replica furniture and tools in them (along with big “Do Not Touch” signs).

Building containing archives, special exhibits on actress Hibari Misora, Kamen Rider, and Toei animation, as well as the gift shop.

Home of the fictional Edo policeman Zenigata Heiji, who would throw zeni (pennies) at criminals. Lupin the Third’s Zenigata is supposed to be a descendant of him.

Getting ready for the ninja show.

The comic relief characters break the fourth wall to tell the audience that photos - specifically photos of them, why aren’t you taking photos of them!? - are ok.

The actors in the live ninja show I watched.

Souvenir photo of myself if I were historical figure Sakamoto Ryouma. They have a menu of costumes to choose from, and they fit everything over your clothes and literally have costume and wig on, photo taken, costume and wig off, and photo printed in 5 minutes total.

This automated ninja scoots back and forth on the wires.

Many of the structures, like this bridge, are replicas of structures that historically existed in either Kyoto or Edo (present-day Tokyo).

The skies were beautiful, but it was extremely windy.

A model shrine.

Fox masks. So many fox masks.

Kids running by an old style trolly car.

The small section dedicated to Toei Animation had cells and promotional materials for a number of shows. Here, Galaxy Express 999.

GeGeGe no Kitaro

Arale from Dr. Slump (N’cha!) and Sailor Moon

Mazinger Z

Such a clever girl.