Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture
Hidden treasures close by always leave me slapping my head thinking “Why haven’t I visited here before?” … but so do mosquitoes around a re-hab center.
Only a 3 hour drive from where I live; Matsumoto in my guide book is described as:
The city has a somewhat lazy, dishevelled feel to it, though the coming of the 1998 Winter Olympics will probably force the people to spruce things up a bit.
Hey! those “lonely planet” books are expensive!
The city has a fascination with frogs for some reason.
Matsumoto Castle is one of the Top 3 Castles in Japan. I’ve visited the other 2: Himeji and Kumamoto before.
I didn’t mean to, things just happen like that to me.
Built in 1504 and completed in 1614, it’s pretty old. It was scheduled for the scrap heap when the Meiji Restoration period was in full swing; but some locals thought that would suck, so the city bought it … and the rest is history … but so is the past.
Why was it called the “Meiji Restoration” when they went around wrecking and tearing old stuff down? Stupid Meiji Restoration!
The castle somehow looks better in black and white.
I took this photo from one of the sniper windows, while slowly … ever so slowly … winding, shuffling, and climbing my way to the top of the castle, in my socks and everything!
Those are all the people who joined the line after I joined the line.
The castle looks like it has 5 floors, but there are really 6: one is secret. (you’re going to have to scroll back up to check this out, because I don’t have any more photos of it)
From what I saw Matsumoto looked like a very nice city, but with limited time before joining the final traffic jam of the trip there wasn’t time to explore anything else. I’ll definitely go back again.
And that was the end of this year’s Golden Week adventure.
Another vacation packed away in a can along with all the other vacation memories in my head.
note: arriving home it was all the usually post-trip stuff: laundry, lawn mowing, photos, milk purchases, and distributing the obligatory omiyage (souvenirs) to my neighbour and co-workers.
Hey! I didn’t get any omiyage! lol. I like the castle and you’re right, not that it looks “better” in black and white, but some how boosts it’s status to a little more “historical” looking. great series. I like the 2nd frog statue with the book.
Wow! Nice filing system. My head is full of old, half collapsed card board boxes. Unfortunately, most of them are full of Zagnut bars. I don’t really care for Zagnut bars.
-Turkish Prawn
Many of us will never have the chance to do any of this and see all the wonderful sites you got to see, so thank you so much for sharing them with us ! I really enjoyed them all. I love your take on life!
Pity about the crowds at the castle.
I visited the castle in Inuyama and what struck me as odd was how unaesthetic it was inside. Pure form and function. It didn’t seem to be a great place to live or hang out.
It made me think about those old shoguns and how they were so focussed on war and not on quality of life.
It’s a very froggy place. The two frogs being attacked by the sword weilding arm in pyjamas is rather disturbing…
I noticed you saw my blogger to WP change & have changed your Blogroll to suit. Well….. I decided to keep my Blogger one & Dixie’s too rather than change it all back to WP again. Ummm Sorry…..
http://oldfart1.blogspot.com
If you don’t label the memory cans, you may open a bad one!
Thanks for sharing your holiday with us, all six parts of it. I like the Mastumoto Castle.
I always have laundry to do and milk to buy after a vacation…along with needing a vacation from my vacation.
My calendar says Victoria Day is today. Happy Victoria Day!
Thanks for all the comments.
sweetiegirlz: that statue is a frog version of the Ninomiya Kinjiro statues that are all around Japan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninomiya_Kinjiro
Turkish Prawn: the photo is of a semi-hidden exhibit in the Kanazawa museum.
Doraz: thanks. If you live anywhere long enough, you eventually see stuff.
razzbuffnik: it was probably the busiest day of the year for the castle, but it still only took about an hour to get inside.
I was thinking the same thing about the castles, but I guess only the “keep” or “donjon” really remain now. The castle area and outer outer walls must have been a lot bigger with more comfortable stuff inside.
Tony: there are 2 frogs with swords on top of the big frog; you just can’t see its head because of the camera angle. I would have put on a different picture of it, but the top frog has one arm broken on the otherside. The whole thing is made of styrofoam actually.
I think I’ve updated your blogs whereabouts about 4 times in the last 2 days!!!
S. Le: The bad memory cans get dumped into the ocean of time like so much toxic waste. I’m sure they will come back to haunt me.
Tammy: thanks. I’d forgotten about Victoria Day. When I lived in Victoria city, I thought it was just a city holiday. I know better now.