Relating to Japanese castles I’ve mentioned many occasions that they’re all fairly comparable when it comes to white color, fashion and look however there are some which look a bit of totally different, and I used to be fortunate sufficient to seek out time in my busy schedule to see one among them on a current journey to the Chubu area of Honshu; the biggest of Japan’s 4 important islands.
Visiting some practice stations might have been my important cause for taking an impromptu day journey to Nagano prefecture, however I couldn’t cross up the chance of visiting one among Japan’s premier castles which is a 15-minute stroll north of Matsumoto station. Time was pretty restricted although.
The imposing Matsumoto Fort is thought for its black partitions which make it stand out from the numerous different white castles within the nation. This historic sixteenth century fort options reveals of historic weapons not that I noticed them as I didn’t enter as I’ve mainly retired from going inside such locations! The 1200-yen entry payment wasn’t too interesting and apart from I didn’t have time anyway!
Nowadays I’m greater than happy with simply the fort exteriors, and this one could be very spectacular as a consequence of its closeness to the encompassing moat because it’s a fort constructed on plains relatively than on a hill or mountain. The pink colored Uzumi Bridge sadly can’t be used but it surely nonetheless makes for a pleasant distinction within the foreground of the black fortress.
This was not really my first time to see the fort as I noticed it for an equally brief period of time twenty years in the past when my then-girlfriend and I had a fast look across the metropolis on the way in which again from an evening in Kamikochi. Positioned between the station and the fort is a really cool sculpture often known as gamasamurai which is a much-loved image of the realm.
It’s mainly a funny-looking pair of frogs which was donated by Tokyo College of the Arts in 2005
Nawate-dori buying road runs off from the sculpture and was a nice-looking wander into yesteryear. It’s speculated to have an awesome vibe however most of the memento retailers, cafes and snack stalls have been all closed.
The Metoba River runs parallel to that buying road and was a really nice wanting space fringed by the mountains and shiny blue sky.
Again close to the station there was one other statue referred to as ‘Flute’ from 1993 which is to do with the town having some form of musical background. He appears to have forgotten to placed on his garments although!
Put it away will ya!!
After that there was another cease at Chino station to see what some have labelled because the world’s most harmful buildings. Extra particulars right here.
Previous to my time in Matsumoto metropolis, I had visited a really distant and predominantly unused station with some fantastic views of the encompassing inexperienced mountains. Extra particulars right here.
Nagisa station was alongside the identical line and simply as small and remoted however the ready room and surrounding space weren’t on a par with the one I’d simply been to.
My time in Nagano had really begun just a few hours earlier with extra geeky practice station content material at Okaya station which possesses a platform zero.
There are three such stations in Nagano, and the second wasn’t too far-off at Tatsuno.
It was lastly time to go to Matsumoto after that however there was the bonus sighting of Ono station which is attention-grabbing for me (solely me??) because it feels like “oh no”.
The third and last cease on my platform zero quest of Nagano was at Matsumoto itself. Extra particulars right here.
Going to a spot for only a day through something apart from common native trains shouldn’t be one thing I make a behavior of however I made a decision to deal with myself to this overelaborate journey within the wake of only a few journey alternatives this 12 months.
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