Matsumoto - a castle and frog street

A quick stop to see the black castle and Frog Street.

Matsumoto castle

Matsumoto in Nagano Prefecture is the gateway city to the Northern Japan Alps. We were on our way from Kiso-Fukushima (after walking the Nakasendo trail) to Takayama in the Gifu Prefecture. I decided to do the train loop from Matsumoto to Nagano to Toyama to Takayama so we stopped by Matsumoto for an afternoon.

Metoba river in Matsumoto on the way to the castle

Our time was limited so after grabbing a quick lunch at the McDonald’s across from the train station (kid’s request, also, Mickey D’s is much better in Japan than North America), we aimed for Matsumoto castle, a 15 minute walk away.

Matsumoto Castle

Castle moat

Matsumoto castle with it’s unique black exterior walls was built in the 16th century and is one of Japan’s most significant castles. It has a moat full of carp and there is a picturesque red bridge. We paid our entrance fee and entered the castle inner grounds dotted with beautiful cherry trees in full bloom. There are seating for visitors, a souvenir store, restrooms, vending machines and lockers for your bags around the entry to the inner grounds. You will want to put away your backpacks as the space inside the castle can be tight. There was a line up to go into the castle but it was not a long wait for us.

Castle inner grounds

We climbed up steep stairs from floor to floor of the castle. There are exhibits of weapons, castle defenses and information on the castle construction. The higher we got, the steeper and tighter the stairs and it became congested with people waiting to ascend or descend. The view from the top was worth seeing but it would be a much better experience if you can come earlier in the day before the majority of the visitors arrive.

View from the castle

sign about steep stairs

Going up and down very steep stairs

Nawate Dori - Frog Street

After our visit to the castle, we walked about 10 minutes to Nawate Dori, also called Frog Street, on the river. The entrance of this funky small shopping street is marked by giant sculpture of three strange frogs. The frog name came from the frogs that used to inhabit this part of the river; they have since moved away. As you walk down the street you will see lots of frog theme items, dessert, snack and craft shops. There is Yohashira shrine where we found very friendly pigeons and it seems to be a hang out spot for locals to enjoy the day. Midway through the street, we got to some steps that allowed us to descend down closer to the river.

Entrance of Frog Street

Yohashira Jinja shrine

Have fun with pigeons, they have no fear of humans

Senbei snack stand

A gentleman brought his bunnies to the street for people to see and pet.

Pathway by the river down from Frog Street

After a relaxed time at Frog Street, we headed back to the train station to catch our train. If we had more time, I would have stopped by the Matsumoto City Art Museum to see Yayoi Kusama works. Next time! We were glad to have this fun stop at Matsumoto on our journey.