Matsumoto

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Japan, Koshinetsu Region, Nagano Prefecture, Matsumoto, View of Matsumoto Castle, Japanese Alps and cherry tree (Photo by: JTB Photo/UIG via Getty Images)

UIG via Getty Images

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Overview

The vibrant city of Matsumoto (松本) sits in a fertile valley, with the magnificent northern Japan Alps, in all their splendour, to the west. Formerly known as Fukashi, Nagano Prefecture's second-largest city has been here since the 8th century. In the 14th and 15th centuries it was the castle town of the Ogasawara clan and it continued to prosper through the Edo period to the present.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

Matsumoto-jō

Matsumoto

Must-see Matsumoto-jō is Japan's oldest wooden castle and one of four castles designated National Treasures – the others are Hikone, Himeji and Inuyama…

Utsukushi-ga-hara Open Air Museum

Matsumoto

Atop Utsukushi-ga-hara-kōgen plateau you'll find this seemingly random sculpture garden with some 350 pieces, mostly by Japanese sculptors. The…

Matsumoto Open-Air Architectural Museum

Matsumoto

Adjacent to the better-known Japan Ukiyo-e Museum, amid fields and rice paddies beneath the gaze of the Alps, stand these five examples of striking late…

Japan Ukiyo-e Museum

Matsumoto

Housing more than 100,000 woodblock prints, paintings, screens and old books, this renowned museum exhibits but a fraction of its collection. The museum…

Nawate-dōri

Matsumoto

Nawate-dōri, a few blocks south from the castle, is a popular street for a stroll. Vendors along this riverside walk sell antiques, souvenirs, and…

Kaichi School Museum

Matsumoto

A few blocks north of the castle, the former Kaichi School is both an Important Cultural Property and the oldest elementary school in Japan, founded in…

Matsumoto City Museum of Art

Matsumoto

This sleek museum has a good collection of the work of Japanese artists, many of whom hail from Matsumoto or whose art depicts scenes of the surrounding…

Matsumoto Timepiece Museum

Matsumoto

Home to Japan's largest pendulum clock (on the building's exterior) and over 300 other timepieces, including fascinating medieval Japanese creations, this…

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