Today our goal is the castle in Matsumoto one of the top three castles in Japan and which is supposedly well preserved and impressive. On the way however we stop at a rest area which like quite a few of them is trying to built itself in an attraction by itself. This one has a reconstruction at scale of a large battle that happened nearby with the location of armies, hills, observation towers and rivers reconstructed faithfully. Unfortunately the information is only in Japanese so it is difficult for us to understand what really happened and why it was important.
In addition the restroom has one of the most sophisticated toilets we have seen in Japan including a selection of music multiple jet sprays and powers and so on.
The rest areas are plentiful which makes sense given the high cost of the tolls and they are fully equipped with restaurants, vending machines and sometimes gift shops. And there are lots of tolls but at least the roads are in great shape with tunnels and some nice views besides the ubiquitous rest areas.
As we arrive in Matsumoto we are a bit confused initially how to find parking in such a large city especially near the castle. However it is easy enough we just follow a P sign and soon arrive atthe official parking area on the north side of the castle. Before going to the castle however we visit the Kaichi School close by to the north which was one of the oldest schools in Japan and is now an education museum even though we cannot find the entrance today.
Returning towards the parking lot and the castle we visit a nearby typical Japanese shrine with quite a few lazy pigeons.
Now it is time to take a look at the map to get our bearings and head towards the castle which is quite near and almost immediately visible through the trees.
We continue on towards the castle and soon arrive at the moat which surrounds it and is fully functional and full of water. So while the castle is near and we can see it we now have to follow to moat to the actual entrance which looks quite far away.
So we follow the moat around and it is quite beautiful being in places covered with lotus flowers both white and pink and with the castle in the background it looks really pictoresque.
The castle is really impressive especially the keep, it looks impossible to conquer without cannons at least. On the way there is a bridge over the moat but it is not the main entrance so we continue searching for it while circling the castle.
The views continue to be quite special and interesting, it is really quite a beautiful castle. And it even has fishes, lots of them, living in the moat, they are fun to see and some people are even feeding them.
The view of the castle changes as we approach the main gate, which is of course on the south side of the castle on the opposite side from where we started. No surprises there, really, parking seems to be always in the least convenient point for the attraction entrance.
At the main gate we discover that there are actually two gates defending the entrance and between them is the ticket booth where we pay for the entrance before proceeding to the castle grounds.
Inside we are now really close to the keep and it is quite imposing and it is not something we would even think to conquer if we would be an invading area.
The castle itself is surrounded by a very well maintained park. The castle grounds in fact are a new addition, initially there would have been barracks and homes inside but after the castle was rebuilt they decided to create a garden that actually accentuates the imposing keep even more.
Our ticket also includes entry to the main keep but before entering we have to take off our shoes and take them with us which makes climbing some stairs a bit tricky. The information inside is written in both English and Japanese which is really useful.
There are no furnishings in the interior which leaves little to distinguish one floor from the other as we climb up to the 5th floor. The keep has some interesting features including different window slits for arrows and guns as well as openings where stones could be dropped on the invaders below.
One talked about feature is the fact that one of the floors is not visible from the outside, no windows or any openings, where likely the lord of the castle would have resided during any sieges.
The stairs to the last floor are much steeper and difficult to negotiate with a few people hitting their head on a beam that is low above the stairs. Likely this is also a defensive feature of the castle to make conquering it more difficult. But now for visitors this makes it a bottleneck with quite a few people waiting both at the top and the bottom for a chance to go up or down.
The sights from the top however are worth it with a panoramic view in all four directions. We can see the city and also the grounds far below us, very beautiful.
Unfortunately we can also see the rain coming in the distance but we hope that we can still finish our visit before the rain starts. And we enjoy seeing the fish sculptures from up close, they are actually a bit scary.
As we start descending we catch another glimpe of the red bridge and suddenly there are swans next to it. No idea where they appeared as we didn’t see them before so possibly they were wild swans or maybe tame ones that were just taking a stroll through the park.
Descending further we enter into the museum that is housed inside the keep and is dedicated to weapons especially firearms used in the medieval times.
There are large guns, and small guns and various types of powders and shurikens and bows and everything else you can imagine.
It is especially interesting to see the variety of weapons including rocket launchers and cannons used by the Japanese in their struggles against each other. And then it is time to leave the castle and explore the city before continuing on to our next accomodation.
