In seasonNagano · Matsumoto CityVOL.0 · 2026-W43
Autumn leaves at Matsumoto Castle
About 3.5 km from Matsumoto IC, a keep that escaped demolition stands in the city.
In 1872 a local paper reported that Matsumoto Castle's keep had been sold off at auction. Seeing this, Ichikawa Ryozo proposed holding an exhibition inside it, and five exhibitions from 1873 kept it from being torn down. When the keep later began to lean, school principal Kobayashi Uya and others raised funds, and repairs were finished in 1913.
From Matsumoto IC it is about 3.5 km along Route 158. The keep is a linked complex of five buildings: the main keep, the Inui small keep, a connecting turret, the Tatsumi annex and the moon-viewing turret. The late-Warring-States main keep has 115 openings for guns and arrows, while the moon-viewing turret, added in the early Edo period, has almost no defenses.
In autumn the trees of the Honmaru garden turn color, and a free chrysanthemum show runs in Matsumoto Castle Park from late October to early November. National Treasure Matsumoto Castle Week runs November 3-10. Park at one of the city lots about an eight-minute walk away.
Highlights HIGHLIGHTS
- 01
3.5 km from Matsumoto IC
About 3.5 km (about 20 min) into the city on Route 158 from Matsumoto IC on the Nagano Expressway.
Source：Matsumoto Castle Management Division, Matsumoto City matsumoto-castle.jp - 02
Otemon city parking
A multistory lot about 8 min on foot from the castle; 150 yen per 30 min, 7:30-22:30.
Source：Matsumoto Castle Management Division, Matsumoto City matsumoto-castle.jp - 03
The five-building keep
The main and Inui keeps linked by a turret, with the Tatsumi annex and moon-viewing turret attached.
Source：Matsumoto Castle Management Division, Matsumoto City matsumoto-castle.jp - 04
Honmaru garden
Trees in the Honmaru garden turn in autumn; mallards appear on the outer and inner moats.
Source：Matsumoto Castle Management Division, Matsumoto City matsumoto-castle.jp - 05
Chrysanthemum show
Late October to early November in Matsumoto Castle Park, 8:30-17:00, free.
Source：Matsumoto Castle Management Division, Matsumoto City matsumoto-castle.jp
Sources and official information SOURCES
- OfficialNagano Tourism Organization go-nagano.nethttps://www.go-nagano.net/nature-and-outdoors/id16956
- SourceMatsumoto Castle Management Division, Matsumoto City matsumoto-castle.jphttps://www.matsumoto-castle.jp/value/citizens
- SourceMatsumoto Castle Management Division, Matsumoto City matsumoto-castle.jphttps://www.matsumoto-castle.jp/access
- SourceMatsumoto Castle Management Division, Matsumoto City matsumoto-castle.jphttps://www.matsumoto-castle.jp/about/tower
- SourceMatsumoto Castle Management Division, Matsumoto City matsumoto-castle.jphttps://www.matsumoto-castle.jp/info/season
- SourceMatsumoto Castle Management Division, Matsumoto City matsumoto-castle.jphttps://www.matsumoto-castle.jp/event/autumn
Written by the APEX DRIVE editors from facts in the official sources above (not a copy of the official text).Last checked: . Details may change. Please check the official page before you go.