Matsumoto

I left Narai on the 09.17 Chuo Line train to Shiojiri where I caught a Shinonoi Line train for the short journey to Matsumoto.
I stayed for two nights at the Marunouchi Hotel, a modern hotel and part of the conversion of a Meiji-era bank with a large dining room where the buffet breakfasts were served. It was the first hotel to have BBC World on the TV plus a laundry service.
I walked the short distance to the well-preserved castle and the parkland around it. Inside the main tower were narrow, steep stairs between the floors, one of which had a firearms museum.
Lunch was a buckwheat soba soup with pork.
I walked down Nawate and Nakamachi Streets with their white and black storehouses converted into handicraft shops.
I visited one of the cafes run by an American which had a number of musical instruments plus a baby-grand piano. I returned in the evening for a recital by a Suzuki-method teacher which included Chopin and anime themes. I drank two flasks of soba and potato shochu which made me very tipsy when I got out into the evening air. However, I managed to walk to the Castle to see it floodlit.Read more