After waking up and grabbing a quick breakfast at McD’s, we checked out of the hotel and headed over to Shinjuku Station. We lined up first at the information counter to exchange our JR East Passes. Once we were set, we headed down to the platforms to take the train to Matsumoto. Since the ride would take around three hours, we made sure to buy bentos as we’d be arriving past lunch hour. Here’s what my fukugawa meshi looked like:

We arrived at Matsumoto Station around 2pm. After making it out to the tourist information center, we noticed that this poster was prominently displayed at the door:

Yes. It’s the doctor with the horrible perm from the movie Kamisama no Karute. The movie was actually was filmed in Matsumoto, which is why the promotional posters are everywhere in the city. So instead of picking up a single tourist guide from the counters, I’m pretty sure we took the entire stack with us. Hehe.

Moving on – 

We made a quick stop to our hotel to drop off our luggage, then went out to explore the streets in Matsumoto. Because we had the Kamisama no Karute Matsumoto street guide with us, we decided to follow the route on the map and visit some of the filming locations from the movie. We first walked down Nakamachi Toori, which has many houses and small shops. Later we crossed the Metoba River and made it down Nawate Toori, which is noted for its fine antique textiles, ceramics and paintings. Of course you can’t forget the frogs. =P

The one thing I really liked about the streets in Matsumoto is the comfort. It’s so relaxing making your way around on foot. The side roads aren’t very wide, but no one seems to be in a hurry to get anywhere. There’s an interesting mix of buildings and public art, so there’s always something to see along the way. I could have probably gone around in circles all day if I had the time.

We made a brief stop at Yohashira Jinja, which is at the end of Nawate Toori. Finally we looped back and continued walking until we arrived at Matsumoto Castle. We paid our admission at the front then made our way over to the entrance. We had to take our shoes off when we got inside the castle. Frannie had warned me earlier to wear warm socks because the wooden floors were cold. As with other castles, it was a long climb to reach the top. The stairs were quite steep, so we really had to be careful as we were walking. Once we reached the top, we were treated to a great view of the city from all four sides of the castle. 

Going down the stairs turned out to be more tricky than going up. It was a real workout making our way around! My legs were a little wobbly when we made it back outside. We toured the grounds for a bit then went inside the souvenir shops. The sun was starting to set, so we took a seat on a bench facing the castle and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon relaxing outdoors. 

Afterwards we walked back to the hotel to drop off our things, then went out again to grab dinner along Matsumoto Toori. I wanted to go to an authentic soba restaurant, so we picked a place on the second floor of a building. Since we couldn’t see inside the restaurant from the street level, I didn’t know what to expect until we made it through the doors. We turned out to be the only customers at the restaurant! However, the food was decent and I enjoyed my tempura soba, along with the sanzoku appetizer I shared with my sister.

After dinner we made a quick stop at Parco. This was probably the only time on our entire trip that we had time to stroll through a department store. We went back to the hotel later and went upstairs to use the communal baths. After a long day of walking, it was a great way to end our first day traveling in Matsumoto.