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    Vacation » Japan » Land of the Rising Sun – Part 10 – Matsumoto

    Land of the Rising Sun – Part 10 – Matsumoto

    Posted: 07/07/2011 | Last updated: 07/14/2011 by Matt 1 Comment
    Post may contain affiliate links via Amazon Associates or other programs. (Disclosure)

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    *tap tap*

    THIS THING ON?  Whoops, got a little too close to the mic, heh.  Been a little while since I've been on the stage here.  Please forgive me.  Apparently a little place known as "Florida" has been getting all the gigs lately, while my washed-up and amateur routine has been temporarily shelved.  But through a fortunate break in the action (begging and pleading), I've gotten a chance to resume the photobarfs from my epic 2 weeks in Japan back in November.

    Last time, my brother and I had just finished our last night in the Tokyo area.  The next morning we got up at 5am, had some emotional good-byes with Masa and Asuka.  Well, as emotional as 4 people working on 4 hours of sleep can be first thing in the morning, at least, which was more like some half-dazed hugs with squinted eyes and difficulty finding the floor with each step.

    We headed to the station and  began our trek northwest towards a city called Matsumoto, where one of the 3 most well-known Japanese castles has been preserved.  One of the other 3 is covered in scaffolding until 2014-ish, and the third is way past the furthest west that we went in the whole trip, so Matsumoto made the most sense since it was "on the way" west.  Due to the layout of the shinkansen, it is actually faster to get there by overshooting Matsumoto northward to Nagano, the former site of the Winter Olympics, then taking an "express" train back down for the last 40 minutes or so.

    After some generally overcast days sprinkled with some fairly good weather in Tokyo, we were looking forward to Matsumoto, which is officially one of the sunniest cities in Japan - perfect backdrop for a big hulking black castle.

    And of course, the only reason any nerdy American goes to visit a Japanese castle.  Samurai.  The ultimate killing machines.

    matsumoto
    On the ride over, we had our first chance to see the true Japanese countryside whiz by, after spending the first several days almost exclusively in the Tokyo metro area.

    matsumoto
    Once you hit Matsumoto, at first glance it appears to be like any other metropolitan area of Japan.  Say, are those umbrellas in the sunniest city in Japan?

    matsumoto mcdonalds
    Since Micky D's is supposedly way better in Japan, we decided to cross that threshold for the first time in Matsumoto.  The restaurants are very clean, the food portion sizes are smaller yet more "gourmet" (my chicken carbonara sandwich had a fried egg, a cream sauce, bacon,  and mozzarella), and service is top-notch, also evidenced by the fact that the smiling faces from the employees of that particular McDonald's are staring up at you from your tray.

    matsumoto canal
    An old castle canal most of the way from the station to the castle.  Say, those look like raindrops in the water in the canal of the sunniest city of Japan.

    matsumoto canal frog
    Same canal, showing what appears to be some kind of ninja rabbit or something.  Usagi Yojimbo, is that you?!

    matsumoto frog
    Oh, false alarm.  Just an orgy of ninja frogs.

    matsumoto koi
    Colorful koi and fall leaves in the "moat" around the castle grounds (almost there!).  And some strange circular patterns in the water.  Must be due to the high amount of sun exposure in Matsumoto...

    matsumoto castle
    Dun-dun-duuuunnnn!  The castle!  Every bit as impressive as you'd expect, and then some.  As always, pictures just can't do justice for the actual effect of massive and impressive things looming over you.

    matsumoto castle crow
    Between Matsumoto being known as the "Crow Castle" (due to being almost entirely black) and these swans paddling around in the moat, you've covered two of the meanest and biggest bullies in the bird family in this one picture.

    matsumoto castle
    Oh, I freaking give up.  Who am I kidding?  It rained the entire day in the sunniest city of Japan, ok?!

    matsumoto
    At least the rain made for some pretty settings like this by knocking off the leaves that were still barely hanging on for dear life.

    matsumoto castle inside
    One of many flights of stairs that eventually led to the top.  The average Japanese samurai was 5'3".  I'm 5'7".  These steps felt like they'd be steep for someone 6'5".  Those samurai must have had some serious quad muscles.

    matsumoto castle inside
    Part of a typical floor, with supports out the wazoo due to having to bear the weight of several more floors higher up.

    matsumoto castle inside
    Bullets.  Whatever.  We have those back home.  Where are the samurai?!  Those bushido warriors?!  Those badass soldiers who deflected bullets with their swords like Luke Skywalker deflected laser beams?!  Those warriors who make Chuck Norris take one look at them and run away screaming?!

    matsumoto samurai
    A sketch of an old gun-wielding samurai??  I can't take the torture anymore!

    matsumoto samurai
    YES!!!!! My life is complete.

    matsumoto castle bridge
    View of the entry bridge and part of the sunni... rainiest city in Japan.

    matsumoto castle courtyard
    Other side of the castle, towards the courtyard.

    matsumoto engrish sign
    What would any Japan post be without a sampling of amusing signs?

    matsumoto castle courtyard
    I probably took pictures of the castle from 20 different angles, but here's another one from the courtyard.

    matsumoto koyo vinesUnique building on the way back to the station that was completely smothered with vines in full koyo mode.

    From there we immediately hopped onto another train towards Kiso Valley, which was probably my favorite experience of the entire trip.  Be on the lookout for a multi-post smorgasbord of pictures from that incredible and ancient region of Japan!

    Related posts:

    1. Land of the Rising Sun - Part 9 - Yokohama
    2. Land of the Rising Sun - Part 1 - Hakone
    3. Land of the Rising Sun - Part 11 - Kiso Valley (Tsumago)
    4. Land of the Rising Sun - Part 6 - Asakusa #2
    « Storm Damage - Counting Our Blessings
    Islands of Adventure - Colors, Colors Everywhere »

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    Comments

    1. Remi

      July 08, 2011 at 2:11 pm

      Samurai! I must now go home and watch 'Seven Samurai' and/or 'the Last Samurai'

      Reply

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    Hi, I'm Erin! I love food and I bet you do, too! I cook for my family and share the recipes that we love. We also like to camp, so there will be a fair bit about that around here, too.

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