History / Culture / Tour Spots in Hakuba / Azumino Area

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Hakuba / Azumino

Category

Travel / Tourism

History / Culture / Tour

National Treasure Matsumoto Castle

4.5

3635 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Nagano Pref. Matsumotoshi Marunouchi 4-1

"Matsumoto Castle is said to feature Japan's oldest surviving five-storied six-floor pagoda. It is one of the few castles designated as a National Treasure, and maintains the image of the past. The black and white contrast of the castle rising amid the Alps in the background is beautiful, and the castle has become a symbol of Matsumoto City. In addition to the castle facilities of the Sengoku period, such as the stone drops meant to rebuff invaders, or samurai windows or the gun slits, there are exhibits such as the ""Matsumoto Castle Gunhouse"" centered around matchlock guns, and artifacts unearthed during the ninomaru palace excavation performed from 1979-1984. In the precinct, you'd do well to see the black gate with eave roof tiles marked with the family crests of historical castle lords, or the taiko gate which was restored in 1999."

In contrast to Himeji castle, Matsumoto castle is black, and is often called the Black Crow because of its colour. Good photos are taken from near the red bridge. It is also lit up at...
National Treasure-designated Former Kaichi School

4.0

349 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Nagano Matsumoto-shi Kaichi 2-4-12

This elementary school opened in 1873 as the Dai-ni Daigaku-ku Dai-ichiban Shogaku Kaichi Gakko. The current structure was built in 1876, and approximately 70% of the construction expenses were funded by donations from the townspeople. It is a representative structure of Giyofu Kenchiku (imitation of Western-style architecture) and inside are displays of materials that give the visitor an impression of what it looked like back then.

The Former Kaichi School was founded in 1873, Construction was completed in 1876 and it served as a functional school for 90-years until 1963. Having been designated an important cultural asset in...
Yohashira-jinja Shrine

4.0

324 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Nagano Pref. Matsumotoshi Ote 3-3-20

This shrine located in the Ote district of Nagano Prefecture’s Matsumoto City mainly enshrines four deities: Ame-no-Minakanushi-no-Kami, Takamimusubi-no-Kami, Kamimusubi-no-Kami, and Amaterasu Omikami. It attracts fervent believers as the deity who connects wishes and makes all requests come true and is also popular as a “power spot” (a location thought to be flowing with mystical energy). Among the locals it is affectionately called Shinto-san. The Shinto Festival is a procession that is held every year from October 1st–3rd, and is a representative festival of Matsumoto bustling with yatai food stalls, exhibitions of butai-hoei floats and an offering of fireworks.

Yohashira is a lovely and peaceful spot and an active shrine. The grounds are small-ish but there are plantings and a few buildings. You can sit or wander. Local residents will come to make offerings...
Chihiro Art Museum Azumino

4.5

182 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Nagano Pref. Kitadumigunmatsukawamura Nishihara 3358-24

This art museum located inside of the Azumino Chihiro Park in the Matsukawa Village district of Kita-Azumi County, Nagano Prefecture collects and displays works by picture book artists from around the world including Chihiro Iwasaki. In addition to displays about Chihiro’s representative works, related items, and career, the museum also introduces the history of picture books and a collection of original pictures from picture books around the world. The museum is complete with facilities sure to delight children such as a reading room where they can read their choice from approximately 3,000 picture books as well as a play area for small children. There is also a picture book café where visitors can relax while gazing out at Japan’s Northern Alps (Hida Mountains).

The grounds here are lovely, in a perfect park setting, completely wonderful for children to play and explore with their families. Chihiro loved children, as evident in her art and exemplified in...
Matsumoto City Museum of Art

3.5

122 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Nagano Pref. Matsumotoshi Marunouchi 4-1

This is a municipal museum on the grounds of Matsumoto Castle in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, exhibiting items related to the history and folk customs of the area. It introduces the history of the castle and the castle town from their origin to the modern day. There are also materials which convey information and allow visitors to learn about local lifestyles and customs including raised cloth pictures, star festival dolls, travelers’ guardian deity and an aging ceremony. One important highlight is the Edo period waterworks discovered during an archaeological dig.

The Matsumoto City Museum covers three floors of a building adjacent to the castle grounds. It is different from many city museums in that it includes some early history of the city and area. It is...
Matsumoto Timepiece Museum

4.0

130 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Nagano Pref. Matsumotoshi Chuou 1-21-15

This museum displays a wide range of timepieces centering on a collection donated by antique timepiece researcher Chikazo Honda. The museum has a policy of displaying each timepiece in its collection (which contains more than 1,000 items) in working condition whenever possible. The museum also exhibits a number of phonographs, which have a deep connection to the history of timepieces. The museum is notable for the massive pendulum clock, one of Japan's largest, which is built into the front of the building. The museum is a 10-minute walk from JR Matsumoto Station.

If you are curious about technology or history this is a fascinating museum. Who knew the Egyptians invented the hourglass as an advance over water to tell time. There were candles for predetermined...
Rokuzan Art Museum

4.0

88 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Nagano Pref. Aduminoshi Hotaka 5095-1

This facility was opened in 1958 with the goal of preserving the works of Rokuzan Ogiwara, nicknamed the “Rodin of the East.” In addition to his masterpiece carvings such as “Woman” and “Despair,” the museum also displays the works of Kotaro Takamura, who was deeply connected to Rokuzan. The impressive building, covered in ivy and church-like in appearance, is beloved as a symbol of the Azumino region. A 10-minute walk from JR Hotaka Station.

安曇野を訪問した際、最も行きたかった美術館。まず、今井兼次設計の赤レンガの美術館そのものが見所満載。ドアの取っ手や、暖炉など細かいところも興味深い。館内の展示も素晴らしい。碌山の代表作、女をはじめとして、時間を忘れてしまいます。美術ファン、建築ファンには強くおすすめです。
Hotaka-jinja Shrine Okumiya

4.0

56 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Unsupported.

This shrine is located in Azumi, Matsumoto City, in front of Myojin Pond. It is dedicated to Hotakami no Mikoto, the local Shinto deity who protects the Japanese Alps. Every year on October 8th, a ceremony called the “Nihon Alps Sangaku Sonansha Ireisai” is held to soothe the spirits of those who perished in the Japanese Alps. In addition, the deity is also enshrined on the peak of Mt. Hotaka in Hotaka-jinja Shrine Minemiya.

「神降地」とも称される「上高地」にある「穂高神社奥宮」です。雰囲気はあります。御祭神は「穂高見命」で、日本アルプスの総鎮守、海陸交通守護の神様らしいです。境内にある「明神池」とともに訪れてみてはいかがですか。なお、拝観料は大人1名500円です。
Matsumoto Mingei-kan (Matsumoto Folkcraft Museum)

4.0

44 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Nagano Pref. Matsumotoshi Satoyamabe 1313-1

Matsumoto Mingei-kan is a folk craft museum located about 15 minutes by car from the center of Matsumoto City. Taro Maruyama, the owner of a folk craft shop, founded the museum in 1962. The museum houses a collection of about 6,000 artifacts of the Mingei movement from the Taisho period (1912–1926) which introduces the idea of “beauty of necessaries” in daily necessities used for handwork in everyday life. In 1983 the building was donated to Matsumoto City and now it is an integral part of the Matsumoto City Museum.

Im a huge fan of Japanese folk art (mingei), and Ive been to my share of folkcraft museums in Japan. This one had some really interesting objects but I could only look and wonder what they were. I...
Old High School Memorial Museum

4.0

44 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Nagano Pref. Matsumotoshi Agata 3-1-1

This memorial hall is located in Agata no Mori Park in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture. It contains collections and exhibitions on the country’s high schools under the old education system, including Kyusei Matsumoto High School, the predecessor to present-day Shinshu University. The shop offers books written by Morio Kita, a graduate of Matsumoto High School, and other related goods. The park grounds also feature one of Matsumoto High School’s old school buildings built in the Taisho period, which is registered as an Important Cultural Property.

For older travellers this is a good way to spend a bit of time on your vacation. Wouldn’t recommend it to the younger people visiting the area don’t think it would interest you. Gardens in the park...
Omachi Alpine Museum

4.0

30 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Nagano Pref. Omachishi Omachi 8056-1

The Omachi Alpine Museum, located in Omachi, Omachi City, Nagano Prefecture, opened in 1951 as Japan’s first museum dedicated to mountains. In addition to introducing the wildlife and history of the Hida Mountains, the museum also holds exhibitions on the symbiosis between mountain-top ecosystems and people. At the attached zoo facility, Hida Mountain wildlife like Japanese serows and owls are kept; an exhibit featuring ptarmigans, a designated National Special Monument, reopened in 2016. The facility is a popular place to view rare mountain animals.

Very modern inside. Most of the signs were Japanese only, but it was still possible to figure out the gist of the displays (we were one non-speaker and one beginner-speaker). Especially liked the...
Matsumoto Scale Museum

4.0

28 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Nagano Pref. Matsumotoshi Chuou 3-4-21

This is a museum in the warehouse-lined Nakamachi Street, Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, in the building occupied by weights and measures specialist Takeuchi Doryoko from 1902 to 1986. They have collected and exhibit over 1,000 items related to devices that weigh, measure and calculate from both Japan and abroad. The quiet courtyard is one of the standout charms. The nearest station is Matsumoto Station.

Because I was in the area, and because the entry fee was low, I stopped in, and was the only person in this small museum. Still thought it was pretty interesting! I recommend that anyone in the...
Matsumoto City Museum of Art

Leisure / Hobbies

Nagano Pref. Matsumotoshi Chuou 4-2-22

This is a private art museum in the center of Matsumoto City. The museum houses a collection of pieces by artists connected to Matsumoto City such as world-famous avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama, calligrapher Shinzan Kamijo, and lifelong Shinshu (Nagano) natural vista painter Kazuo Tamura. Special exhibitions and exhibitions of works submitted by the general public are held at the museum several times each year. A 12-minute walk from JR Matsumoto Station.
Former Matsumoto High School (Agata no Mori Cultural Center of Matsumoto City)

3.5

24 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Nagano Pref. Matsumotoshi Agata 3-1-1

This educational facility is located inside Agata Forest Park. You can see the restored principal's room and classrooms in the wooden Western-style building-former Matsumoto Highschool-that is an Important Cultural Property. In addition, there is an adjoining auditorium, and it is used by many as a venue for the educational and cultural activities of local residents such as concerts and exhibit presentations.

重要文化財にも指定されている旧制松本高校本館に図書館や文化会館が置かれている。ただし、現在改装中のようで中には入れなかった。
Azumino Jansem Museum

3.5

23 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Nagano Pref. Aduminoshi Hotakariake 4018-6

This art museum is located along Prefectural Route 308 in Hotakaariake, Azumino City. It opened in 1993 as the first museum in the world to focus on the works of Armenian painter Jean Jansem, who did his work in France. The exhibitions feature Jansem’s oil paintings, watercolors, sketches, and woodblock prints, though sometimes works by other domestic and international artists are exhibited as well. The adjoining cafe offers a place to relax, and you can also enjoy a stroll through the verdant garden.

バレリーナの絵で有名なジャンセンの作品を展示しています。バレリーナといっても華やかなイメージよりもさびしさ、生きる悲しみを後ろ姿に感じさせます。
Matsumoto City Court and Historical Village

4.0

18 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Nagano Pref. Matsumotoshi Shimadachi 2196-1

Focusing on the theme of the modernization of Shinshu (Nagano), the Matsumoto City Historic Village contains a collection of precious buildings from the early Edo period through the Showa period. The Former Matsumoto Branch Court of Nagano District Court, a Prefectural Treasure, is a courthouse built in 1908 and is designed in the modern Japanese architectural style representative of the Meiji period. Visitors can also see a variety of other structures in the museum, such as Former Silk Mill of Showa Manufacturing Company and the Birth Home of Naoe Kinoshita.

明治時代の地方裁判所や少年刑務所独房、製糸工場、ああ野麦峠関係の展示などが移設保存されています。松本城と方向違いのバスで30分くらいというアクセスの問題からか、ほとんど人がいませんでしたが、なかなか見どころが多く良かったです。
Nyakuichioji Shrine

4.0

13 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Nagano Omachi-shi Omachi Tawaramachi 2097

This Shinto shrine is famous for its large scale children's traditional yabusame horseback archery event and is ranked alongside the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu in Kamakura and Kyoto's Kamo Shrine as one of Japan's three greatest Shinto horseback archery shrines. Records state the shrine was founded in 849. The Honden front shrine reflects late Muromachi period regional tastes and is a single bay shrine with a pillar at each of its four corners built in the sumigi-iri Kasuga-zukuri style. The shrine has been designated an Important Cultural Property.

It is a little bit far from downtown Omachi, and as I visited, there was no other tourist. This is a Shinto shrine, but due to Shinto-Buddhism merging in the Middle Ages, there is a pagoda next to...
Ushikata Yado (Prefectural Treasure former Chikuni family home)

4.5

12 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Otari village Kitaazumi-gun Nagano prefecture Tsugaike plateau

Ushikata Yado is the last remaining inn on the Chikuni Highway, also known as the “Salt Road” because it was once used to carry salt and marine products inland. The building with a hip, thatched roof is presumed to be of the late Edo period, and was used to accommodate the cattle used as transportation and their handlers (ushikata). It was designated as a treasure of Nagano prefecture in 2009.

牛方宿というのは、物資を運んだ牛方と牛が一緒に寝泊まりした宿です。栂池高原から小谷村を通る国道１４８号線に向かって下っている途中に見つけました。藁ぶき屋根の建物で、建物には説明も記されていました。この牛方宿のすぐ近くには「塩の道」の表示がありましたが、かつて、糸魚川から松本まで物資を運んだ千国街道を「塩の道」と呼ぶようです。かつては、その塩の道沿いには、何軒もの牛方宿があったそうですが、現在...
Museum & Cottage Morinoouchi

4.0

12 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Nagano Pref. Aduminoshi Hotakariake 2215-9

This is an art museum within Akamatsu Forest, Azumino City, Nagano Prefecture, displaying mainly the original pictures from contemporary picture books from Japan and abroad. They collect original pictures from works such as Bernadette Watts’ The Little Match Girl and Delia Cancela’s “Alice in Wonderland,” and several times a year hold planned exhibits. They give particular attention to the works of Kenji Miyazawa. There are a number of facilities including library with around 8,000 picture books, a museum shop, and cafe where one can enjoy handmade cake and lunch. Also popular as a wedding venue, cottage accommodation is available too.

かわいい看板なので通過！Uターン（笑）！木漏れ日の中に普通のお家のように佇む美術館。ちょっと寄ってみない？気に入ってもっとと望むなら、足を延ばしてちひろ美術館へどうぞ！おべんとうもってアルプス眺めて池の周囲の公園で、絵本読みながら半日のんびり。絵本三昧の１日。
Omachi Energy Museum

3.0

13 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Nagano Omachi-shi Taira 2112-38

This fun and educational museum uses models and experiment exhibits to reveal the hidden fundamentals behind how energy can be transformed into heat, light, movement, and electricity. Museum exhibits also include a real, now retired water turbine, and visitors can follow the history of the development of hydraulic power as well.

子ども向けと聞いていたけど、理系を選んだ後の学年以上向けかと思うくらい内容は高度。ボタンを押したら装置が動く展示が多様にあり、楽しみながら学べます。難しいことが分からなくても、レトロな展示を見るだけでも楽しめます。

Nagano Hakuba / Azumino

Travel / Tourism History / Culture / Tour

Reference/Local/Exhibition/Literature Museum Shrine Castle / Ruins of Castle Historical Monument Temple Church Ruin / Grave / Ancient Tomb Memorial Hall Cultural Property Event Hall / Public Hall Art Museum Museum / Science Museum Other Historic Site/Building

Nagano Areas

Nagano prefecture is an exciting mix of mountains, hot spring monkeys, and preserved Edo history. At the heart of the Japanese Alps, Nagano is one of the country’s most popular destinations, whether in winter for its snow sports and the much-loved Jigokudani Monkey Park or in the warmer months for discovering the undulating hills on foot. For fantastic Edo architecture, head to the Kiso Valley for a 60-kilometer stretch of quaint wooden buildings that marked the Nakasendo route 200 years ago.