How to Spend One Day in Matsumoto

Matsumoto is the perfect destination for a day trip from Nagano City. Its compact size and varied mix of attractions make it a great one-day trip. Here’s how to schedule your time when you visit…

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Getting to Matsumoto

Matsumoto Station is located close to the main city sights, so it’s easy to arrive by train. It takes about 50 minutes to get here on the Shinano Line from Nagano Station, or about 80 minutes on the slower, but slightly cheaper, Shinonoi Line.

At the time of writing, you can use Suica cards on the Shinonoi Line, but not the Shinano Line. The Shinano Line will start accepting Suica cards from mid-March 2026, but double-check this is in place on this section before boarding, just in case.

When you arrive at Matsumoto Station, take the Castle Exit to leave. From here, you can follow this plan in either direction, depending on whether you wish to visit the castle first or the art museum; the route below is the order in which I did it.

I arrived in Matsumoto around 10.30 am and left at 3 pm – I could have spent longer if I had taken the tour of the castle and done more shopping.

Matsumoto City Museum of Art

This is about a 17-minute walk from Matsumoto Station (or, you can get the local bus, which takes six minutes).

If you didn’t know it before you arrived at the Matsumoto City Museum of Art, one look at the polka-dotted exterior and giant vibrant display of spotty flowers ‘growing’ from the lawn would tell you that this place is home to one of Japan’s largest displays of works by artist Yayoi Kusama.

Kusama was born in Matsumoto in 1929, and the museum honours her link to the city with a display of 18 different works – ranging from small paintings to the giant pumpkins for which she’s most famous.

The rest of the museum is also full of works by other Japanese artists.

Some of the Kusama displays have a queuing system and, at weekends, it can get quite busy in here, so, if this is something you’re very keen to see, I’d suggest starting your day in Matsumoto here, especially at weekends.

The museum is open from 9 am to 5 pm, six days a week. They close on a Monday.

It costs 800 yen for an adult ticket purchased at the door. Children of High School age or under enter for free. Special exhibitions can have an additional fee.

Genchi no Suigenchi Ido Well

Backtracking a little bit, I detoured for three minutes to check out this pretty park with a stream running through it. This is one of about 20 outlets for the crystal-clear spring that runs beneath Matsumoto.

It’s marked on the map as 源地の水源地井戸 – but if that’s too tricky to type in, use the coffee shop Bench as your guide, the park is a few metres north.

At one point, this was claimed to be the best-tasting water in the whole of Japan. Even now, you can fill a bottle from the bamboo spout that flows into the stone basin.

Keep an eye out as you walk around the city for other wells tapping into the stream, and also the clean canals that flow alongside the backstreets.

Daishoji Temple

From the spring, I wound my way north for six minutes to check out a small shrine I liked the look of.

Daishoji Temple is a small Buddhist temple with some very cute statues outside.

Once I arrived, though, I realised these are just some of the statues that fill the grounds – and there are other different styles and figures depicted.

Unfortunately, I can’t find anything in English about why it has such a variety of figures or styles, but it’s another peaceful stopover before you reach one of the main tourist spots in Matsumoto – Nakamachi Shopping Street.

Walk Past the River

Nakamachi shopping street is a five-minute walk east of Daishoji. I walked along the river, which meandered past some cool old buildings. If you also come this way, you might want to stop off for an early lunch.

Try Some Soba

Soba noodles are one of the traditional dishes of Matsumoto, and walking past the river will take you past Metoba Soba, a highly rated soba spot. It’s open from 11 am to 5 pm seven days a week.

They don’t speak much English, but they do have an English menu, and the menu has pictures on so you can clearly see what you are getting. A simple dish of Zaru Soba – cold noodles with a dipping sauce, will cost around 1300 yen.

If you can wait a little longer, though, THE best soba restaurant in Matsumoto is said to be Kobayashi, which is located close to Matsumoto Castle.

Nakamachi Shopping Street

Up until now, you probably haven’t seen many other tourists, but you’ll start to see them as you enter this pretty street.

Today, it’s home to souvenir shops selling crafts like pottery, clothing stores, cafes and restaurants, but back in the Edo period, the main businesses in this part of town were sake brewing and kimono selling. Many of the buildings also acted as storehouses.

Much of this area was destroyed in a fire in 1888, and when the buildings were rebuilt, the builders used a traditional method of fire protection – building thick mud walls – as opposed to using wood. This gives this street a very different feel from the rest of Matsumoto – and probably many other places you’re visiting in Japan.

You can easily spend an hour wandering around the shops here, which contain everything from local pottery to avant-garde clothing, but also don’t miss some of the buildings of particular interest.

Kurassic Kan is the old sake warehouse that you can now go inside, and the Matsumoto Scale Museum is a quirky little stop dedicated to weighing devices.

The Shinmeigu Shrine, tucked away behind the buildings, will also delight photographers with its rustic charm. The shrine survived the great fire that hit the area and actually stopped it from spreading further, so it’s very important to the local people, even if it isn’t the grandest place of worship you’ve ever seen.

Stop off For Dessert

The highlight of Nakamachi Street for me was the pudding vending machine that’s located about halfway down on the left (if walking east to west).

Purin Shop are famous for its seasonal flavoured caramel puddings, but if the store is closed, you can always get your fix from the vending machine outside that sells tubes of ‘drinking pudding’ for 400 yen.

If that’s not your thing, across the road and to the right, you’ll find Temariya, which is known for its Baumkuchen. Originally from Germany, this ring-shaped cake is very popular in Japan.

Look Out for Temari

Temari are a craft from Matsumoto. They are balls wrapped in silk thread in colourful patterns – they were a traditional childhood toy, but now they are also given as signs of affection and to bestow good luck and a long, happy life to the receiver.

You’ll find them sold in stores, and they are even on the manhole covers around the city.

Temeri-ya also sell round Baumkuchen to reflect this Matsumoto tradition.

Nawate Street

This was the main reason why I wanted to visit Matsumoto.

Nawate Street is a small shopping street on the north side of the Metoba River, just a few minutes walk away from Nakamachi Shopping Street.

It’s a fun place to buy souvenirs, but more importantly, it’s full of frog statues and memorabilia.

Legend has it that this street used to teem with life – and croaking frogs were part of the charm. After a typhoon caused the river to flood, the frogs moved to higher ground and never returned to the area, so the local tradespeople started adding statues of them instead.

There’s also a small frog shrine.

At the end of Nawate Street, you’ll find Yoshihari Shrine. This is a great place to see the autumn leaves if you’re here during the fall foliage season.

Matsumoto City Museum

History buffs may want to make a quick stop at this small museum explaining the history of Matsumoto.

It costs 500 yen for adults; under 18s enter for free. It’s open 9 am – 5 pm every day except Tuesday.

From here, you are just a 3-minute walk to Matsumoto’s most famous sight – the black castle. Again, take your time wandering to get here, as there are some pretty old buildings to discover as you walk.

Rather stupidly, I managed to go the wrong way from the most photogenic of these – the Wabi Sabi Store on Daimyomachi Street.

This used to be an old bookstore called Seikando, and it was famous for its traditional look wedged between two modern buildings. The bookstore has now closed, and the building has been taken over and repainted, which has reduced a little bit of its charm, but it’s still worth a look.

Matsumoto Castle

This is the most popular sight in Matsumoto. It’s one of the oldest castles in Japan, and the oldest example that has five floors when viewed from the outside, but six once you get inside.

And at that point, my knowledge of the castle ends – I’m not a huge fan of Japanese castles, and, while I’d have gone inside if I was feeling 100 per cent, I wasn’t feeling well the day I went to Matsumoto, and by this point, I just wanted a sit down!

So, that’s what I did. I spent a happy half hour watching the swans float around the moat, admired the castle exterior and the pretty red bridge.

If you do want to go inside, the castle is open from 8.30 am to 5 pm, seven days a week. Entrance costs 1200 yen for adults and 400 yen for children of high school or elementary school age.

You can buy tickets in advance, which will save you queuing time on the day.

There are also free tours in English offered regularly throughout the day between mid-April and October (excluding a few scheduled days off). These are run by volunteer guides between the hours of 10 am and 3 pm. I think you’d enjoy the castle a lot more if you took one, as there is a lot to see inside.

You can just turn up and take the next tour, or they also offer bookings.

There are some fascinating legends associated with the castle, including the mysterious secret passage that defies logic, the ghostly bags of rice said to have protected the castle from fire and the story of a man with a glare so powerful he caused the mighty castle to tilt!

If you can’t make a tour work as part of your plans, take some time to read the castle’s website before you visit. It’s a mine of fascinating information – even for someone like me who doesn’t really like castles.

Returning to the Station

If you’re heading back to Matsumoto Station from the castle, it’s about a 15-minute walk from the castle.

And that’s it – a nice, easy day trip to Matsumoto, taking in most of the main sights. I’d like to go back and find a few smaller ones, as I loved wandering around the backstreets and finding the retro, faded buildings here. I’m pretty sure there are some hidden gems to be discovered with a little more time.

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