22 Best Things to Do in Matsumoto, the Heart of Nagano

Matsumoto may not be on your Japan radar unless you’re an avid fan of central Japan, but this city surrounded by the stunning Japanese Alps has a lot to offer! So, what's cool about Matsumoto, aside from the climate? 

From historic castle town streets to contemporary art sensations and verdant nature, this city has a little something for everyone. And of course, a rich culinary culture that takes full advantage of central Japan’s mountain climate and plenty of street food!

To help you plan the perfect trip, we’ve compiled this list of some of the best things to do in Matsumoto.

Matsumoto is easily accessible by train and also has its own domestic airport: Shinshu-Matsumoto Airport. Flying from Tokyo can take as little as four hours and cost from ¥12,000, though transport time and flight costs can vary greatly by your planned travel dates.

Given that some of the most interesting locations in the city are a bit spread out or off the beaten path, cycling is a popular way for folks on a Matsumoto trip to get around, with both electric assist and non-assisted bikes available.

But, with all of this extra effort to get around, is Matsumoto still worth seeing? Let’s find out...

No list of things to do in Matsumoto is complete without this historical gem, which happens to be one of the 12 remaining original castles in Japan — meaning that it was never never destroyed or rebuilt in all these years!

Referred to as the “Crow Castle” due to its unique black exterior, this 6-story castle dates back to the 1500s. Make sure to spend some time in the Tsukimi Yagura to admire the castle gardens (and for a little break after climbing all those steep stairs).

This cute little street lined with Edo period-style buildings and shops is famous for something a little surprising: frogs! Why frogs? Once upon a time, the Metoba River that runs nearby the street used to be home to hundreds of frogs.

Nowadays you can expect to find frog-themed decor and goods at the shops along the street, as well as a variety of popular street foods like senbei rice crackers, the delicious fish-shaped sweet treat, taiyaki, and local specialty, oyaki buckwheat dumplings.

Sip on centuries of Japanese culture in a sake tasting and brewery tour, exploring a sake brewery that's been in Matsumoto for over 150 years.

Allow a sake expert to guide you around these hallowed halls, explaining how sake is made — including front-row seats to the rice washing and steaming process — before leading you to a sake tasting inside a Japanese home.

You'll even get a little souvenir as a thank you for your time spent appreciating Matsumoto's beloved sake brewery.

This shrine at the end of Nawate Shopping Street is said to have the power to grant any wish you might throw at it due to the number of deities housed there — a grand total of four, an unusually high number for a Shinto shrine in Japan.

Due to its wish-granting potential, it's a hot-spot during New Year’s for everyone’s first shrine visit of the year. 

This museum is striking in so many ways! From the large grandfather clock on the face of the building to almost 300 timepieces from all over the world, the vast majority of this collection still works!

With three floors of interesting clocks and watches, this is one must-see attraction you won't want to be late for.

Foodies, rejoice! This enchanting shopping district — noted for its buildings, styled to look like Edo period storage houses — is full of cute cafes and restaurants, a craft beer brewery, and many bars. With boutiques and souvenir shops added into the mix, this street is perfect for anyone wanting to spend a day seeing what the day and nightlife of Matsumoto are all about. 

Did you know? Matsumoto just so happens to be the birthplace of the famous Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. “The Visionary Flowers” sculpture outside the museum is by Kusama, and the museum holds a permanent collection of her works.

There are also many exhibitions that change with the seasons, making each visit feel like a brand-new experience.

This Shinto shrine houses not one, but two separate deities! One deity of academic success and another of agriculture, hunting, and warfare. The shrine is also the home of one of Matsumoto’s most famous summer festivals, the Tenjin Festival, which has over 300 years of history! 18 floats from the different districts of the city are pulled through the streets until they finally reach Fukashi Shrine to be put on display. At the same time, the shrine grounds are also filled with food stalls.

To get a truly hands-on culinary experience, go on a guided miso factory tour at a factory that’s over 100 years old! Learn all about the process of miso fermentation and see each stage up close, from a freshly started batch to a fully matured 3-year-old batch.

After your tour, enjoy a meal that features the factory’s different varieties of miso paired with delicious local ingredients.

Nagano’s food culture is shaped by the Japanese Alps, and one of the most tantalizing of all the local delicacies is grilled Matsumoto wagyu beef, famous for its sweet aftertaste due to the apple-rich diet of the local cattle.

Not to mention that due to Matsumoto’s fresh spring water, ramen and beer are also hugely popular — the city has several craft breweries and quite a few ramen restaurants that serve Shinshu miso ramen and other varieties. 

In this fun-filled Matsumoto food tour, you'll tick off a few iconic Matsumoto landmarks — including Matsumoto Castle, naturally — but you'll also get a taste for traditional Japanese foods.

Somewhere between sips of sake at a sake tasting, you'll stop for a gorgeous kaiseki multicourse meal at a Japanese restaurant with beautiful views of a garden.

Aside from the rich local food culture of Nagano, Matsumoto also boasts a flourishing international food scene, thanks in part to their long-standing sister city relationship with Kathmandu, Nepal. There is an abundance of curry houses and Himalayan restaurants around town — perfect for those of you who may be vegan and unable to indulge in wagyu or dashi fish stock-utilizing dishes.

Other restaurants around town include Southeast Asian, Chinese, Mexican, French, Italian, and so much more!

This hidden gem is well-loved by Nagano Prefecture locals, and once you’ve gone for a stroll along its streets and hiking trails, you’re sure to fall in love with it too. Asama Onsen became famous in the 1600s when one of the lords of Matsumoto Castle had an onsen built in the area.

In this diverse Matsumoto cooking class and tour, you'll get to enjoy a varied mix of Japanese dishes, ingredients and culture.

Sit down to a handmade soba lunch (made by your own fair hands), grate fresh wasabi and then stroll around the historic Matsumoto district of Asama Onsen Town.

Matsumoto is surrounded by the Japanese Alps, and you can enjoy a panoramic view of them from almost anywhere in the city! But, the Matsumoto City Alps Park may have some of the best views around, with multiple walking trails leading to all kinds of scenery. Not to mention a mini zoo that's perfect for the kids.

One of Matsumoto’s most popular cherry blossom viewing spots, this small mountain has hiking trails and a summit ringed with cherry trees. A climb up to the top means you can get a photo of the Japanese Alps floating on a sea of cherry blossoms in the spring.

The perfect way to see a beautiful Japanese wisteria trellis without the crowds! This temple boasts a stunning wisteria display in early to mid-May and is popular with Matsumoto locals, but is almost unknown to folks from out of town. The temple is a bit off the beaten path with infrequent public transit, so you may need to invest in a rental bike or car to get there, but it'll be worth it.

This Buddhist temple complex sports gorgeous views all year round, with cherry blossoms blooming in spring, hydrangeas lining the stairways in summer, vibrant fall foliage, and a blanket of snow in winter! The temple grounds also house two bronze cow statues, based on the death of a Chinese emperor’s two cows while his entourage passed the temple on a visit to Japan. This led to the temple being named Gofukuji, meaning “prostrated cow temple.”

Find out more: Best Time To Visit Japan: When To Plan Your Trip

If you end up coming into Matsumoto by plane, this spot won’t be out of the way at all! This popular park has flower gardens with blooms for every season, as well as dozens of walking trails to enjoy the flowers and plane spotting, too. 

This lovely park has a small picturesque lake and numerous walking paths. However, the most interesting part of the park is the Old Matsumoto High School building — a school building that dates back to the early 1900s!

Visitors are free to explore the building and many of the rooms inside are set up like they would have been when the school was in use, complete with desks and chairs.

This museum boasts artifacts from the Jomon period to the Heian period, excavated from around the Matsumoto city area. Most notable is a collection of artifacts recovered from an ancient grave that was found at nearby Mount Kobo.

If you’re a fan of classical Japanese art, the Japan Ukiyo-e Museum is the museum for you! It houses ukiyo-e woodblock prints collected by the Sakai family, who have one of the largest collections of ukiyo-e in the world.

English descriptions are limited, but the art is timeless and speaks for itself.

When it comes to things to do in Matsumoto, and Japan in general, you can never go wrong with a Japanese festival! Matsumoto has plenty to offer, with interesting festivals in every season.

If you visit in the spring, you can expect to see one of Japan’s oldest craft fairs, Crafts Fair Matsumoto. In the summer you just might be able to see, or even join in on, the Matsumoto Bon-Bon Festival — an energetic dance festival parade!

In the fall you can catch the Matsumoto Castle Festival and its samurai parade, then in the wintertime you can marvel at stunning ice sculptures at the Matsumoto Ice Sculpture Festival. And of course, every festival comes with food stalls selling amazing snacks!

For more sensational snow festivals, discover Hokkaido this winter: Winter in Hokkaido: Skis, Snow Festivals & Soup Curry

Go to a preserved and relocated former juvenile detention center inside the Matsumoto City Court and Historical Village complex, that is! Please don’t get arrested, that would be a bit too extreme for a Matsumoto day trip.

This open-air museum complex also houses the Former Matsumoto Ward Courthouse, an old weaving factory, a female worker’s dormitory, and the former home of a samurai. A perfect stop for history buffs and fans of old buildings!

With its iconic castle, historic sites galore, and rich culinary culture, Matsumoto is well worth the trip down from Nagano’s ski slopes! However, given the spread-out nature of the city, you might be wondering: just how many days do you need in Matsumoto? The answer is up to you! 

You can stick to the city center for a nice day trip, or spend a few days enjoying the sites that are further afield. If there’s one thing to say about the things to do in Matsumoto, Japan, it’s that there’s enough variety to make a truly unique itinerary for anyone — from Japanese foodies to outdoor enthusiasts!

Want to know more about the beautiful city of Matsumoto and its prefecture of Nagano? Let us tell you about 8 must-try Nagano winter foods, or take a look through our favorite food experiences in Matsumoto.

Matsumoto is especially famous for two things — it is the birthplace of Kusama Yayoi, an avant-garde artist most well-known for their polka dot pieces, and it also has Matsumoto Castle, one of the oldest castles in all of Japan that hasn't been destroyed or rebuilt since the 1500s.

Matsumoto Castle is famous even in Japan as one of the country's few remaining castles that hasn't required rebuilding since its creation in the 1500s — in fact, there are only 12 castles that can make this claim in all of Japan!

It is also referred to as “Crow Castle” for its striking black exterior, making it an interesting backdrop for any travel pictures.

You can get to Matsumoto in approximately 3.5 hours from Shinjuku Station if you take the Shinjuku Expressway Bus — costing around ¥4,500 — or 3-4 hours if you take a mix of trains, including the Shinkansen, depending on the time of day.