We got up early, packed up the rest of our belongings, and headed downstairs for an early breakfast. We had checked the bus schedule the night before and thought we had left enough time. However, we were a minute too late as we saw the bus was already down the street. Not the best way to start Day #3 of our JR Nagano Niigata Pass, but we made the best of it.

It was snowing pretty hard, so we decided to make a snowman while we waited. When the next bus came we got on and took the 25 minute ride to Iiyama Station.

Iiyama Station

At the station we had a few minutes before our train, so we looked around the stations activity center. We learned that the area was filled with fun things to do in both the winter and summer. In the future we’d like to come back and experience some.

Matsumoto Station Tourism Information Center

We also stopped by the tourist information center to learn more about the area. We asked the attendant at the tourist information center about their manhole card and she happily gave us a pair.

Next, we took a Hakutaka Shinkansen from Iiyama Station to Nagano Station which took a quick 11 minutes. Afterwards we hopped on a Shinano Limited Express bound for Matsumoto. The train took about 57 minutes and we arrived at Matsumoto station around 11:00. We dropped our bags off in some lockers before heading out towards Matsumoto Castle.

Nawate-Dori

Along the way we walked through Nawate-dori. The mascots of the area were frogs. In the past the area was known for them. Along the street they were pretty prevalent. They were even adorning small shrines like this one.

Furusato Taiyaki

We stopped at Furusato Taiyaki and tried their anko (red bean paste) and custard flavors. It took a couple of minutes since they were making the taiyaki fresh. We got our taiyaki and headed over to a table down the street.

The taiyaki were nice and crunchy on the outside. There was a generous amount of filling in both. Typically I’m not a fan of tsubuan (red bean paste with bean shells), I prefer koshian (red bean paste without bean shells) which had a very smooth texture. The anko taiyaki from Furusato Taiyaki was really good. The heat from the taiyaki had made the texture of the anko more paste like. We hardly even noticed the bean shells. The custard one was good as well. The heat had made the custard even more viscous and it overflowed a little with every bite. It was a nice hot treat on a cold day.

Ippo Sanzokuyaki

We then made our way north to try another local specialty. We stopped at Ippo which was known for their Sanzokuyaki (fried chicken cutlet). Since this was just meant to be a snack, we decided to share a set meal which had two large pieces cut into strips. The chicken was really good. It was crunchy and flakey on the outside, and the inside dark meat was juicy and tender. The meat was very flavorful and no additional sauce was needed in our opinion. We learned that a garlic soy marinade was infused in the batter prior to frying which locked in all the flavor. We finished up and headed towards the castle park.

Afterwards, we stopped by the tourist information center which was across the street from the castle park. We picked up another manhole card from the center’s attendant. She was very nice and told us about a number of other promotions and events.

Matsumoto Castle

We then headed across the street to Matsumoto Castle. We paid the ¥700 fee per person and made our way inside. The castle grounds were quite large. There was a nice grassy area directly in front of the the castle which allowed us to take some nice unobstructed pictures. We also met with a period actor who showed us some of this fighting moves and posed for a picture with us.

The inside of the castle was similar to other large castles we’ve been to. We had to take off our shoes at the very beginning and put them into plastic bags. The wooden floor was really cold, so we recommend wearing a thick pair of socks. The stair cases between the levels were really steep. Holding the hand rails and pitching our bodies forwards, we climbed the stairs going up. I’m only 5′ 8″ tall and there were a couple of instances where I had to duck since the ceiling was so low. The castle had a good amount of displays in English which gave us a hint of what life was like in feudal Japan.

The highlight for us was definitely the 360 degree views from the top floor of the castle. We really enjoyed seeing the town with the snow capped mountains in the distance. We looked around a bit before heading back down. The trip down the stairs was a lot more scary than the trip up. We pitched our bodies back as we went down the stairs. At some points the stairs were so steep that we were almost sitting down on a step as we took the next step down.

Matsumoto Castle Stamps & Postcards

Before heading out we stopped by the souvenir shop and picked up a couple of postcards. One of the postcards was a piece of wood that had been inscribed with the image of Matsumoto Castle. In an office next door we also picked up a set of the castle version of goshuincho (temple stamps). This was the first time that we had seen them. Its definitely something we’ll keep an eye out for when we visit more castles in the future.

Shinshu Omiyage Base

After finishing up a the castle we headed back towards Matsumoto Station. Along the way we walked through Nakamachi Dori. It was a nice shopping street lined with a good variety of different shops. We did some lite window shopping and picked up a mountain salt caramel pudding from Shinshu Omiyage Base. We tried the pudding later and it was really good. The caramel sauce provided a sweet addition to the slightly salty pudding. It tasted similar to sea salt and caramel.

Temariya Baumkuchen Cakes

A little further down was Temariya. It was a shop that specialized in baumkuchen cakes. They had a number of the cakes on display. The cakes are typically cut in way that resembles a cucumber cut into quarters along its length. Typically, we see them at Muji in a variety of different flavors. The ones at Temariya were surprisingly pricey, so we got a single piece to try. When we tried it later it was pretty underwhelming. The texture was nice and fluffy, but the taste was really light. It just tasted like plain sponge cake. Probably not something we’re likely to try again. Especially when the Muji ones are a fraction of the cost and much more delicious.

We got back to the station and picked up our bags. We then got back on a Shinano Limited Express towards Nagano Station. At Nagano Station we transferred to a Hakutaka Shinkansen bound for Takasaki. After a brief layover we got on a Toki Shinkansen bound for Echigo Yuzawa Station.

Once at the station we looked around for a bit. They had a good amount of restaurants and a number of vendors selling various local specialties and souvenirs. There was an information center where we were able to get some information about skiing and the weather conditions. We saw this sign and were shocked to see how much snow had fallen in the last eight or so hours.

Echigo Yuzawa Station

We made our way out of Echigo Yuzawa Stations East Exit. We took the short five minute walk to our lodging for the next two days at Sansan Yuzawa Backpackers. The majority of the route was under a covered walkway which was nice, since it was snowing quite heavily. We checked in without any issues, and got the key to our private room.

After settling in we went back to the station for dinner. Due to the heavy snowfall we were forced to adjust our plans. We ended up eating at Yuzawa Kamakura which was a three minute walk from the station.

After dinner we headed back to the hostel and called it a night.

More to Come…

Transportation:

Iiyama Station to Nagano Station ¥2,910 (Hakutaka)
Nagano Station to Matsumoto Station ¥2,900 (Shinano)
Matsumoto Station to Nagano Station ¥2,900 (Shinano)
Nagano Station to Takasaki Station ¥5,150 (Hakutaka)
Takasaki Station to Echigo Yuzawa Station ¥4,090 (Toki)

Total ¥17,950