We eat breakfast sandwiches at Costa Coffee with scrambled eggs and coffee at Nagano Station while we wait for our next train. After 90 minutes on the train, with mountain ranges stretching out in every direction, we roll into Matsumoto – the city famous for its pitch-black samurai castle. We pass small Japanese villages nestled between mountain peaks and trees that have lost their leaves. Despite it being winter, it feels as though autumn has only just arrived here. On some of the rooftops, the latest snowfall is still lying.
The hotel we have chosen in Matsumoto is a cheap business hotel. At reception, there are yukata in different sizes available to borrow, along with unlimited coffee and tea, chopsticks, hot water, shampoo, conditioner and hair ties, as well as skincare products in individual sachets. The coffee comes in small filter bags containing pre-ground coffee, ready to have hot water poured over them. At the time, we had no idea that just a few months later, we would miss this simple filter coffee. In Japan, it was cheap everyday coffee. Back home, the same kind of coffee bags suddenly became something you could only find in outdoor shops – at a considerably higher price.
On our first afternoon, we walk to Matsumoto Castle. In the background, a man is playing a handpan. The soft, soothing tones become an unexpected soundtrack to our first encounter with the castle. After walking around and through the castle, we have to admit that Japanese castles are not quite as impressive on the inside as they are from the outside.
After the castle, we start walking uphill towards a viewpoint. After making our way through a large residential area, climbing the entire time, we eventually reach Matsumoto City Alps Park. The park has a small zoo, a café, an observation tower, a large playground with some of the strangest slides we have ever seen, and, perhaps most unexpectedly, several warning signs about deadly snakes. We cannot decide whether it is a death trap or a children’s paradise. Perhaps both. Before we start walking back down towards our hotel, we stop to enjoy the sunset from the viewpoint.
In the evenings, the castle is transformed into a work of art, with a sound and light show that makes everyone passing by stop and watch. The music takes us back to a bygone era, when samurai and geisha played a much greater role in Japanese culture. It takes us through the blooming of the sakura and the sense of rebirth that comes with it. Cherry blossoms spread across the black wooden walls. Dragons sweep across the castle façade. Cranes take flight into the night sky. The modern light show becomes a tribute to traditional Japan at the same time. And months after actually experiencing it, we are still captivated by the show.
Besides the famous Matsumoto Castle, there are plenty of small izakayas to discover. In central Matsumoto, there are countless izakayas and bars. In one of them, we order fried venison with wasabi, which we enjoy alongside a local beer. The meat is tender and perfectly cooked in front of us on a teppanyaki grill, while the fresh wasabi adds a surprisingly powerful kick. It was one of the best izakaya dishes we had eaten in Japan.
Along the streets, restaurants display their dishes as plastic food models in their windows – something that quickly became one of our favourite things about Japan. In one of the many bars, we order highballs and discover a new way to enjoy whisky. A highball is a Japanese drink made by mixing Japanese whisky with soda water, an unexpectedly delicious combination.
Matsumoto quickly becomes one of our favourite cities in Nagano Prefecture. The combination of its beautifully preserved samurai castle, cosy izakayas filled with the aroma of food cooking, and its proximity to Narai-juku makes the city well worth a visit.
