Visiting Matsumoto - local advice

Let me introduce Matsumoto city!

Firstly, Matsumoto castle: it was built in the medieval age. You can rent traditional clothes like yukata, and take a photo with a samurai!

Nakamachi is the next place to visit. You can enjoy beautiful views and eat delicious food, like crepes & pancakes. You can also drink fresh spring water from one of the many wells.

Soba is a traditional Japanese noodle made from buckwheat. You can eat it hot or cold with soy sauce & wasabi.

Nawate Street is another beautiful place to visit. There is a big frog statue. You can take photos, drink coffee, and visit the nearby shrine.

You will want to visit Matsumoto. Now, enjoy your visit.

Posted for Ceilidh 

Visit Matsumoto - Hikari's top tips

Visitors can rent Yukata

If you come to Matsumoto, you'll definitely enjoy visiting Matsumoto Castle. It was built in the medieval age. Before there, you can rent traditional Japanese clothes, "Yukata". You can experience something rare, such as taking a photo with a samurai. Getting there by rickshaw is fun. In winter, there is an ice festival and the castle is light up. In summer, you can listen to traditional Japanese drums in the castle grounds.

Shopping is good in Nakamachi Street. You'll enjoy eating food & buying Japanese handicrafts. you can eat lots of desserts and foods, for example deicious crepes, pancakes, and traditional Matsumoto food, caramelised crickets & bee larvae. You can drink from a fresh-water spring.

If you're a first-time visitor to Matsumoto, don't miss out on eating soba. It is a dish of traditional Japanese noodles maade from buck wheat. You can learn how to make it too, in a class. It can be eaten hot or cold. Cold, with leeks, soy sauce & wasabi. Eat it hot with wild mountain vegetables or tempura, shiitake or matsutake mushrooms.

For those who only have a short time in Matsumoto, why not go to Nakamachi Street? There is a statue of big frogs at the entrance to the street. They are named Metoba, Gonta. When you visit there, you should take a photo with them. You can drink coffee while seeing beautiful nature. There is a shrine. You will want to wish for good luck.

Now you will want to visit Matsumoto. Enjoy your trip to Matsumoto.

Posted for Hikari

Would you like to stay in Japanese garden house in Matsumoto?

It's walking distance from Nakamachi Street. It's spacious, with four Japanese-style rooms, a living room, a large garden, two bathrooms and a balcony. The garden has a pond, a river, a lot of "toro" - which are Japanese stone lanterns. For example, the "Yukimi Toro" was built near the pond, because Yukimi is in the fisherman's style - to get fish.

The neighbourhood is friendly and fun. We always join the festival of Fukashi Jinja (shrine). It's perfectly situated for galleries, museums, and the performing arts.

The house is ideal for a family. It's a no-smoking house and sorry, no pets,

("yuki' is snow - "Yukimi Toro" is snow view lantern)

Posted for Kaoru

NB Not actually for rent :)

Plenty to do in Matsumoto: Karen's report

Matsumoto City Museum of Art

What can visitors do in my home city?

• You can visit Matsumoto City Art Gallery because it has a lot of pieces of work by Kusama Yayoi and other artists. You can see her art outside, a spotty Coca Cola machine, and a spotty bus too.
• I recommend Joyama Park because it has a lot of beautiful cherry blossom trees, and you can see wonderful views of Matsumoto and the tall mountains.
• I recommend eating soba in a restaurant called kawa-fune, near the castle. Soba is locally made grey noodles. You can eat them hot or cold - I prefer them cold.
• You must visit Matsumoto Castle, because it is a National Treasure. It has a long history, and there are many events there eg an Ice Festival in January, a Kendo competition in November, a Craft Beer Festival in August...
• Nawate Street is next to the Metoba River, and is good for shopping, eating Tayaki (from the Furusato shop), and beautiful views. You can have a coffee & pastry in Sweets, a bakery.
• Nakamachi is good for souvenir shopping in unique stores, there's a morning market on Saturdays, and it has a lot of restaurants.
• The film 'Orange' was filmed at the historic Agata-no-Mori building, where there is also a lovely park.

Karen