I miss riding those fast trains in Japan… ’cause I’d never seen a train that fast in my life.
Ike Turner
The day was a little cooler to start with but still unseasonably warm (by mountain standards). We got up to the station and a marketplace had sprung up. It was relatively small but had some nice products there. I walked up to the ticket gate and they had a welcome sign to people coming into the city. On top of this they were handing out the largest bloody apples I have ever seen. They were like a pink lady and were going for the equivalent of roughly $4 each in all the shops. Well nonchalantly I walked up and with hand held out, smile beaming I got one of those bad boys (it would end up as a shared snack on the train). The train trip to Matsumoto was like the trip yesterday, absolutely spectacular. The last couple of days have highlighted why using the train to travel when on holidays is so much better than buses. Having the ability to sit back and enjoy what is being served up is much more preferable to viewing endless bitumen and high banks of soil. The mountain views got better as we went on and it seemed like we went higher, how high I will have to find out. Once we arrived at Matsumoto you get this feeling of a smaller city that still retained a personality amongst the growth. The view of the mountains from the station was spectacular and could only imagine what it would look like in a month or two.
The main reason behind coming today was to view Matsumoto Castle. It is one of very few (I think the number is 3) original castle’s left in existence. A lot of the castles in Japan were either burnt down in battle, lightning strikes or other reasons peculiar to each but this one was still there. Dating back to the late 1500’s, you can walk through the castle the only drawback is you do it without your shoes on. Poor Tracy didn’t have socks on which coupled with the lower temperatures didn’t make it easy on the lower digits. This was exacerbated by the steepness of the stairs. If people were smaller 300 years ago, I am buggered how they could easily get around in here. I went up to the 6th level and while it gave a great view of the city, the trip back down the stairs was an experience J. The beauty of visiting an original castle is you really do get an idea of its defensive qualities. Also the museum that which was situated on the different levels provided a timeline of the weapons used.
While I was in the castle Tracy had made friends with a few actors dressed in traditional outfits. We got our photo with them and had a walk around the grounds before heading off. Probably due to the temperatures in the higher altitude, the vegetation was nowhere as colourful as others we visited but I suppose the starkness added to the “vibe” of the place. We had a walk around, visited a market place in the city and had the obligatory bowl of Ramen.
Images Day 12 – Matsumoto
2019 December Japan 