Matsumoto Castle
400 year old Matsumoto Castle has the oldest five storey tensui (donjon tower) in Japan. It was built on plains with the impressive Japanese Alps in the background.
I love the cunning of the construction … from the outside it appears to have five storeys but it actually has six. The third floor has no windows and was used to secretly house warriors during wartime.
Another queue, this time for 80 mins and fortunately mostly in the shade. We are getting used to this queuing lark! And I will take with me the abiding memory of the steepness and widely spaced steps on the stairs … it is difficult to portray this in a photograph.
Matsumoto
What a friendly city … we enjoyed two great meals in local restaurants with no pictures/imitation dishes/written or spoken English. A few photos of the city with mountains in the background and a wide range of buildings.
We passed a convenience store & we were puzzled to see a couple of cardboard boxes taped to the wall …. looked up and saw fledglings waiting for their next meal.
4 thoughts on “Matsumoto Castle”
I just love this Avril !
Thanks! We are so lucky to be able to explore x
I’m glad you have the stamina to queue for 80 mins, I certainly couldn’t do it anymore. It does look like somewhere worth the wait tho’.
Lesson learnt about travelling & visiting places on public holidays! And at least before joining the queue we were told how long we would have to wait. xx
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