City guide · 松本 Matsumoto
Matsumoto
The National Treasure Matsumoto Castle watching over the Northern Alps — a learned city of Shinshū soba and castle-town streets
The city of Matsumoto sits in the Matsumoto Basin in central Nagano Prefecture, with the snowline of the Northern Alps right before your eyes. The black-and-white keep of Matsumoto Castle is among the oldest surviving five-storey, six-floor keeps in Japan, and the castle town's kura-lined Nakamachi-dōri, the small shops of Nawate-dōri and the pseudo-Western schoolhouse of the former Kaichi School make a charming ensemble. This is also the hometown of the artist Yayoi Kusama and the gateway to Kamikōchi and the Norikura Highlands — a city with the steadiness of a historic castle town and the freshness of a mountain resort.
History
How the city came to be
Matsumoto was called Fukashi in ancient times, and in the Warring States period it was the stronghold of the Ogasawara clan, who built Fukashi Castle. In 1590 Ishikawa Kazumasa, a former senior retainer of the Tokugawa who had defected to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, was granted Matsumoto, and his son Yasunaga directed the building of the keep and renamed the castle Matsumoto. In the Edo period it flourished as the castle town of Matsumoto Domain, prospering on its post stations and trade. In the early Meiji years the keep was at one point ordered to be auctioned off, and only the citizens' fundraising saved it; the Kaichi School, completed in 1876, became a symbol of civilisation and enlightenment. Since then Matsumoto has stood as a city of education and culture, and after the war it grew into the sightseeing and industrial centre of central Nagano Prefecture.
- 1504The Ogasawara clan build Fukashi Castle, the forerunner of Matsumoto Castle
- 1590Ishikawa Kazumasa enters the castle; his son Yasunaga directs the building of the keep, and the castle is renamed Matsumoto Castle
- 1872The keep is ordered to be auctioned; citizens led by Ryōzō Ichikawa raise funds to buy it back, and the keep escapes demolition
- 1876The Kaichi School opens; its pseudo-Western schoolhouse becomes a symbol of Meiji civilisation and enlightenment
- 1903The "Meiji great repairs" begin, rescuing the badly leaning keep
- 1952Five buildings including Matsumoto Castle's keep are designated National Treasures
- 2019The former Kaichi School building is elevated to National Treasure status
Stories
Stories of the city
An original keep more than 400 years old
History · Matsumoto Castle
From 1590 Ishikawa Kazumasa and his son Yasunaga began building the main keep, the smaller keep and other structures, completing them around 1593–1594. Unlike most castles rebuilt after the war, Matsumoto Castle's keep still has its original wooden interior and stone walls; in 1952 the keep and four other buildings were designated National Treasures.
Before you go
Rules to know in Matsumoto
There is no tipping in Japan
Do
- Say thank you with 'arigatō gozaimashita'
Don’t
- Pressing loose change on staff
Japan is a no-tipping country and bills usually include service; if you press a tip on staff, some will politely refuse.
Verified Oct 19, 2026Source: JNTO: Japanese table manners
Take off your shoes when you see a genkan (entrance step)
Do
- Take off your shoes at the entrance of homes, some restaurants, temples and hot-spring facilities
- If unsure, look for a shoe rack or slippers at the entrance
Don’t
- Stepping onto tatami or indoor wooden floors in shoes
It is seen as very rude.
Verified Oct 19, 2026Source: JNTO: Japanese etiquette
No phone calls on trains and the shinkansen; queue to board
Do
- Put your phone on silent; on the shinkansen, take calls in the area between carriages
- Queue at the marked spots on either side of the train door, and let people off before you get on
- Give priority seats to older people, pregnant women and passengers with limited mobility
Don’t
- Talking on the phone or playing sound aloud in the train
Not illegal, but you will get looks and a reminder from the conductor.
Verified Oct 19, 2026Source: JNTO: Japanese etiquette