Sweets and Treats in Matsumoto

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We entered a busy Tokyo station to depart to Matsumoto, a small town in the alpine region of Japan. The station was hectic, likely as we were travelling at the beginning of Golden Week, one of the busiest if not the busiest, times to travel in Japan. It was also due to be the longest national holiday Japan has had due to the emperor Akihito’s abdication. A period of celebration. We collected pastries from a bakery inside the station, a pain aux raisin, Apple pastry and banana cake to eat on the train. By the time we got to the platform the busyness had settled down and we left for Nagano, one of the larger cities in the mountains in Japan, and a hub for alpine activities. After just over an hour on the Shinkansen, Japan’s bullet train, we stopped over in Nagano, only briefly to transit to Matsumoto just 5-10 minutes later.
We left cloudy Tokyo to a slightly less cloudy Matsumoto. After dropping our luggage off in the train station lockers we explored the city. It started with a local confectionery shop that sold Japanese treats. The region is supposed to be famous for making good confectionary, so we each bought a home made red bean daifuku, which was delicious.
We walked towards an old style, and very touristic street in Matsumoto, where we were greeted by a giant frog statue. It seemed to be a local spectacle of the street. After passing many small Japanese stores, we stopped by a local Soba noodle restaurant - the local specialty - for noodles. We both ordered Soba noodles with tempura which was delicious, probably the best I have eaten.
After lunch we walked around Matsumoto Castle, which was just next to the Soba noodle restaurant. It was beautiful and still had some trees with Sakura Cherry blossom on them. In Matsumoto we had booked a Ryokan (a traditional Japanese inn) for the next two nights.
On arrival they greeted us with tea and snacks and offered us Yukata to wear (an indoor/summer style Kimono). We changed and enjoyed the green tea, relaxing in our Japanese style room. After tea, we enjoyed the Onsen (natural hot spring baths) in the Ryokan, as it was located next to natural hot spring water in the suburbs of Matsumoto.
For dinner, we ate nearby at a ramen restaurant. It was delicious, with a perfectly cooked egg, seared pork and rich broth. The staff were very friendly and we were the only two in the restaurant. After dinner we returned to the Marunaka to find the room changed and prepared for sleeping. It would be an early night to prepare for the following day’s trip to neighbouring Hotaka.

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