Matsumoto is a castle town in the Nagano mountains built around an original 16th-century keep, with a frog-themed shopping street along the old riverbank, white-walled merchant storehouses, and horse sashimi as the local specialty.
Early to mid-April, when the cherry trees inside the castle grounds open a week or two behind Tokyo's and the Alps still hold snow behind the keep. Late March, as in these photos, catches the first blossom with almost no crowd.
Order basashi, raw horse sashimi, which Nagano eats more of than anywhere else in Japan, and a bowl of local sanzoku-yaki fried chicken if you want something cooked.
Stay between Matsumoto Station and the castle, near Nakamachi, which keeps the old town, the river, and the morning bus stops for Kamikōchi all within a ten-minute walk.
Buy the combination ticket for the castle and the Japan Ukiyo-e Museum if you have half a day, but go up the keep first thing: the stairs are single-file, and by mid-morning the queue inside the tower moves a floor at a time.
Read more in Matsumoto Travel Guide: Japan's Black Castle & the Gateway to the Alps.
