Matsumoto Castle, Cherry Blossoms, Wasabi Farm & Ryokan [Japan Road Trip #3]
We woke up rather late today, checking out at 9:45 am. Our hotel in Matsumoto doesn’t offer breakfast, but there’s a large lounge where we can help ourselves to free hot drinks. My parents also bought and brought along plenty of pastries.
This travel diary is part of a series on our road trip in Japan. If you missed the previous episodes, here are the links: the itinerary, diary #1, #2
Part 1: Travel Journal
Part 2: Practical Tips
Part 1: Travel Journal
Day 2 of the road trip
The hotel owner asks about our plans for the day. I mention Matsumoto Castle. She recommends a hill covered in cherry blossoms, which I had no idea about, just 10 minutes away.
Matsumoto Castle
But first, we’re going to visit Matsumoto Castle. We pick up our car from the parking lot, load our luggage, and park right next to the castle (parking ¥200). It’s pretty safe in Japan to leave your bags in the trunk, even though we still make sure to take our laptops with us.
We’re thrilled to find that, being in a mountainous area, the cherry blossoms are a week behind Tokyo and 10 days behind Kyoto/Osaka, so they’re in full bloom right now!!! We thought we’d only see one or two cherry trees in bloom. All around the castle, there are plenty of cherry trees. This castle is really pretty with its red bridge (closed), but I gathered that the interior isn’t worth it. So we only explore the outside, without paying the entrance fee (¥700), since we have quite a few things to see today.
A Blooming Hill
A 10-minute drive away is the blooming hill the lady at our hotel told us about: Koboyama Tumulus. Even though we’d seen photos online, the reality is even better. We can’t believe how lucky we are and that such a place exists.
An entire hill is covered in cherry trees in full bloom, in that shade of pink I particularly love. The wind sends thousands of petals falling all at once, and I’m sure just a bit of rain or 3-4 days will completely change the scenery.
The parking lot (free) only has about a dozen spots, but they free up fairly quickly.
Daio Wasabi Farm
I discovered this wasabi farm by chance, not far from Matsumoto. It’s the largest in Japan! The place itself is picturesque.
Wasabi comes from the root of a plant, and it needs to have its feet in non-stagnant water, but not too deep either.
The wasabi plant is cultivated either in a river or a waterfall. Here, there’s a water source that feeds the very large wasabi farm. We see the plants in all their forms: small and large, hidden from the sun or not. The farm tour is self-guided and free.
But what we’re particularly interested in is the restaurant: they have really interesting set menus, and we each get a root to grate. It’s quite fun. Wasabi alone is very spicy, but once mixed with rice and the rest of the ingredients, you can’t even taste it, it’s so funny! The rest of the menu comes from other parts of the plant, and everything is delicious. The water used in the kitchen comes 100% from the nearby water source.
Wasabi to grate:
We go for the salmon set menu, and my dad picks the one with soba. The soba from this region is also very famous, and they serve the ‘cold’ version, meaning you dip soba noodles into a soy-based sauce.
We then visit the souvenir shop with the intention of bringing back loads of wasabi. Unfortunately, wasabi (including the tube version) needs to be kept cool, and we have no way of doing that while on a road trip. We still buy a grater (to finish the fresh wasabi from lunch), wasabi cookies, and have some wasabi ice cream. As you’ve guessed, everything here contains wasabi.
Most of the wasabi served around the world isn’t real, because real wasabi is very expensive. Even here, it’s sold by weight. We compared the price of wasabi roots in the souvenir shop versus what we got in our set meals, and I think we got our money’s worth, since the set meal costs about ¥1,780, and the root alone is ¥550!
Everyone is thrilled with the experience because it was totally unexpected.
Narai-juku
We drive for an hour to Narai-juku, a village frozen in time, supposedly full of tea houses, ryokans, and souvenir shops. Unfortunately, on a weekday, it seems a bit dead; everything says ‘closed.’ Nothing like the videos I’ve seen on Instagram. The good news is that the village’s small parking lot is available (you have to slip ¥500 into a box to pay).
I think the activity picks up only on weekends, but a few shops remain open. The specialty seems to be wooden crafts and wine. We find some cute souvenirs and visit a typical old Japanese house, 400 years old. Entry costs ¥300 per person.
On the way to the ryokan
We get back in the car, and over the next 1.5 hours, we have time to admire thousands of cherry trees in full bloom, go up and down plenty of mountains, gain and lose 5 degrees, and pass through about twenty tunnels (the longest being 4km!!).
We arrive tired at our ryokan, Kazeya Ryokan , at 6 pm. But it’s even more beautiful than I had imagined! Even I’m surprised, because I put the itinerary together a long time ago and don’t remember exactly what I booked. From what I recall, this hotel wasn’t rated as highly compared to other ryokans in the village, but the others couldn’t be reserved without sending 36 emails. This one can be booked online on Booking (Booking.com link. Count on €120/night with dinner. I’m quite proud of my 100% custom itinerary, and my reputation as ““Anh Agency” (nickname given by my loved ones who love traveling with my itineraries) remains intact.
Do you know how ryokans work? They’re luxury guesthouses in nature, with an onsen inside and usually half-board. We have two traditional tatami rooms. My parents got upgraded to a huge room, so big it has 2 bathrooms and a separate room just for the living area. We have a smaller room with 2 tables right next to the two traditional beds laid on the tatami.
Two kimonos are already in the closet; they fit JB perfectly. I hope I find a yukata for him somewhere in Tokyo.
We’re checking out the privatizable onsens ASAP (free of charge). There are two keys to access them. First come, first served. The outdoor onsen is smaller and cooler; the indoor one is hotter and larger but might be a bit stuffy. My parents aren’t comfortable sharing onsens (out of modesty), so I admit it was hard to find a ryokan with a bathroom in the room plus privatizable onsens. Usually, ryokans don’t have showers in the room because they figure everyone washes at the onsen. So if you don’t like washing and relaxing naked next to total strangers, this ryokan with its private onsens might be for you.
As for us, we go to the shared onsens (non-mixed, so each side), but with private onsens available, people prefer staying with family, so no one’s at the shared onsens (which are larger, with two baths side by side, one indoors, the other outdoors). The onsens are open from 3 PM to 9 AM, so you can go in the middle of the night if you feel like it.
The spring water in this area is called “beauty spring” because it beautifies the skin. It feels really soft afterward.
Here, unlike other ryokans, dinner is an extra and is served in a dining room instead of in the room. That’s fine because we want to eat together anyway. But I didn’t expect a private dining room!! My parents are in awe of the sight. Plus, I didn’t even opt for a meal kaiseki (more traditional at 8000 yen, more dishes, hard for a European palate to appreciate). I just picked a regular menu with the “hida beef” option, a regional specialty. Dinner cost us 3500 yen per person (cash only).
This “hida beef” seems top-notch, especially marbled. Japanese beef is graded (A1 to A5), and we often go for A4 or A5; this one, in my opinion, must be at least A4, it’s so beautiful and tender. We cook it in its own fat, and everyone’s amazed by its extraordinary tenderness. The Kobe beef A5 is certainly better, but honestly, hida beef holds its own!
Tea is offered in abundance. My parents go for hot sake (180ml is plenty for two).
My parents, seeing the luxury of this ryokan and the service, thought we splurged on this hotel, but with the yen’s decline and our strategic choice (ryokan not very accessible by public transport), we’re only paying €120/night (Booking link), less than our first ryokan near Osaka 6 years ago.
Because of the extra stop (flower hill), we didn’t have time to visit our little village, but tomorrow’s schedule is light; we’ll postpone the village visit to tomorrow morning (see our travel log).
Part 2: Practical Tips
The detailed itinerary of our road trip is available here
- Parking near Matsumoto Castle: 200 yen
- Matsumoto Castle: 700 yen if you go inside, otherwise free
- Daio Wasabi Farm: free visit. Restaurant: 1800 yen/person
- Narai-juku: parking 500 yen
- Narai-juku: visiting an old house: 300 yen/person
- Souvenirs: from 650 yen
- Kazeya Ryokan Booking.com link : €120/night breakfast included + 3500 yen for dinner (dinner must be booked 2 days in advance)
