Fall Is A Good Season For Trips

Fall is another good season for trips because we have many holidays and the heat of summer has gone. I would like to introduce you to some places to visit on beautiful fall days.


1. Zenkouji Temple (Nagano City)

Zenkouji is a famous temple not only in Nagano Prefecture but also all over Japan, and many people visit it to pray even from other prefectures. It was founded during 7th century, but was burnt down many times. The building we see now, which is a national treasure, was built in the 17th century. You'll find a big gate with a pair of guardian gods, a big incense burner, many kind of statues, stone lanternes, and so on.

Nagano city is a town built originally for the visitors to Zenkoji, with many inns, shops, and restaurants. When you walk along the street to Zenkoji, you can see them.

As a student, I sometimes escaped from classes and spent time in the gardens of Zenkoji with a book or to chat with friends.

You can take a bus to Zenkoji from in front of Nagano Station.


2. Matsumoto-jo Castle (Matsumoto City)

We had many castles before Meiji Restoration, and they must have been valuable. However, many of them were broken or sold out because they were a symbol of the power of the Tokugawa Shogunate, the government, or the lords of the area.

Matsumoto-jo is one of the few remains, though we cannot see its entirety. Tennsyukaku, the main building, was built in 16th century. It is a national treasure, and has a beautiful shape against the high mountains, called Japanese Alps. You can walk up to the top of the building and see the structure of it. While you can find magnificent pictures or carvings inside of Himeji-jo(Hyogo Pref.) or Nijo-jo(Kyoto), Matsumoto-jo is very simple because it wasn't built for living, . Matsumoto is a town built around the castle and you can find the differences from Nagano City when you walk around.


3．Naganokenritsu Rekishikan, NaganoPrefectural Museum of History

(Chikuma City) http://www.npmh.net/
This is a big museum that shows us the history of the people's life in Nagano. Temples, shrines or castles sometimes show us special part of history and culture, but in this museum you can see the life and history of common people of Japan. The exhibition is very visual, so you can understand it easily. (I'm not sure if it has explanations in English.) The museum is built by a huge, ancient tomb, and you can walk around it. The area near the museum is famous for apricots and tulips, so you can enjoy the flowers if you visit it in spring. The station near the museum is Yashiro on the Shinano Line.

4. Old Post Towns

Before the railroads, people traveled on foot or on horseback, and of course it took many days. During the Edo era, lords of every fief had to live in Edo, the capital city of Tokugawa government (now Tokyo), every two years, so they often had to travel all the way to Edo and back home with many of their people. The roads to Edo or Kyoto were well formed and posts were settled. People had rest, ate meals, changed their straw sandals, and sometimes waited for good weather there.

One of the main roads from Edo to Kyoto, called Nakasendo, was through Nagano Prefecture. Along this road, there were many post towns. Even now we can find that some of them remained as they were: Oiwake (Karuizawa Town), Unno (Tomi City), Narai (Shiojiri City), Tsumago and Magome(Nakatsugawa City, Gifu Pref.--They used to be in Kiso area) are kept as they were with traditional buildings.

5. Azumino Chihiro Bijutsukan,Azumino Chihiro Art Museum

(Azumino City) phone:0261-62-0777

http://www.chihiro.jp/azumino/

Iwasaki Chihiro is a painter who drew many pictures of children, and her children in picture books or calenders charm us even after her death. This is the second museum of hers and it has a picture book library for children. You can also enjoy the garden outside. (Her first museum is in Tokyo and it has a special exhibition for its 30th anniversary titled "Peace and Happiness For All the Children in the World")

She wished for peace for children and joined the activities of artists against wars. The museum publishes a calender with her pictures every year and it has messages against nuclear weapons on it.

Azumino is a beautiful area with mountains, rice fields, and clear water. Why don't you walk around in the village?

6. Mugonkan Art Museum (Ueda City) Phone:0268-37-1650

This is a very special museum. Why? All the painters or artists whose works are in this museum were students studying art but died in World War II as soldiers. " Mugon" means "no words" or "without words," but the works left by them seem to be their will. When we are in this simple and dark museum, I feel we can hear their voices.

The museum is in the area called Bessho, and you can find good old shines and temples there. It has also been famous for its good onsen, (hot spring), for a long time. Why don't you visit Mugonkan and some temples, and then enjoy the old public onsen on your holiday? If you have enough money, it is a good idea to stay at a Japanese style hotel with an onsen. There are some good ryokan (Japanese style hotel) in Bessho, and the sign of 'registered with the government' will guarantee the quality.

7. Harada Taiji Art Museum（Suwa City) Phone:0266-54-1881
http://www.city.suwa.nagano.jp/museum/harada/

Harada Taiji is an artist from Suwa. He draws people's lives and scenes that are somewhat older. His pictures remind us of our native places and of childhood. You can see our happy old days before the development, or the destruction, of Japan.

The museum is by Lake Suwa, and you will enjoy the view of the lake from the garden of the museum. The Suwa area also has good onsens. By the lake, there is a place where hot water is spouting out high from under the ground.