Getting away from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo is always a welcome relief and for me a good stress release. This past weekend I took a short adventure with my friend Shigeyuki to Matsumoto, a small castle town just two and a half hours out of Tokyo. It was a last minute and not well planned out adventure, but what a pleasant surprise awaited us. A small town with alot of charm, character, & history. We first walked sort of randomly towards the castle and Nakamachi Dori not really knowing what to expect. Nakamachi Dori is lined with old "Kura's" and buildings that have been renovated and made into quaint shops. Just acroos the river was a small shrine that we also thought we should check out. I was mostly drawn there by the sight of a small drum group that had sat up and looked like they were getting ready to perform. As we got closer we ralized there was a wedding taking place at the shrine, but what was the connection between the drums and the wedding. After the ceremony had ended the family gathered outside for a group picture and then it was annouced that the bride was a member of the group and she was going to be playing with them, in full wedding kimono, as part of the clebration.
From there we walked to Matsumoto Castle a nice old black castle. Unfortunately we didn't get clear to the top of the castle because once we got in there was a 30 min. to go on. We were running on a tight schedule so we gave up.
