Traveling Info

The Japan Ukiyoe Museum exhibits ukiyoe (woodblock prints) from the vast collection of the Sakai family. One of Matsumoto's wealthiest merchants of his times, Sakai Yoshiaki started collecting ukiyoe and other pieces of art roughly 300 years ago. His descendants have been enlarging the collection to over 100,000 pieces, making it one of the world's largest private art collections. Compared to the size of the collection and the museum building, the number of works exhibited in the Japan Ukiyoe Museum is rather small, partly due to the fact that the building was originally built solely for storage rather than exhibition purposes. English descriptions for the exhibits are brief. How to get there The Japan Ukiyoe Museum is located about 3 kilometers outside of Matsumoto's city center, close to Matsumoto Interchange of the Nagano Expressway. The museum can be reached in a 10 minute taxi ride from Matsumoto Station (about 1000-1500 Yen) or in a 15-20 minute walk from Oniwa Statio...

Matsumoto Castle (松本城, Matsumoto-jō?), also known as Fukashi Castle, is a flatland castle and one of Japan's historic castles. Located in the city of Matsumoto, in Nagano Prefecture, it is within easy reach of Tokyo, making it popular with tourists from Japan and other countries. Click here for gallery How to get there The castle is a 15 minute walk or a 5 minute bus ride on the "Town Sneaker" Northern Course bus loop line from JR Matsumoto Station. Click here for map Hours and Admission Admission: 600 Yen Hours: Daily 8:30 to 16:30. Closed from December 29 to January 3. This castle is also called "Crow Castle" because of its black walls and spreading wings. It is an example of a flatland castle, not being built on a hilltop or amid rivers. The castle's origins go back to the Sengoku period. At that time, Shimadachi Sadanaga of the Ogasawara clan built a fort on this site in 1504, which was originally called Fukashi Castle. In 1550, it came under the rule of...