Shiba Park Hotel

This article is based on a visit made on Sunday, 20 May 2018.

Previously on Sekai Ichi, I finally returned to Tokyo after leading my grandmother on a whirlwind trip around central Japan.  But, before I can wrap up this trip I've dragged out over the past two years in blogging about, there is some unfinished business that I need to attend to.  And that includes sharing with you the hotel which I not only chose for both of my Tokyo stays for this trip, but also slept at for my very first night in Japan: the Shiba Park Hotel (芝パークホテル, Shiba Pāku Hoteru).

Shiba Park Hotel is made up of two buildings, a main building and an annex.  For our first visit in 2010, we stayed in the annex.  Eight years later, however, I booked one of the newly-renovated rooms in the main building.  These Deluxe rooms, formerly called Comfort rooms, offer a roomy 30m² (323ft²) of floor area; the regular rooms in the annex are also above the usual standards for Tokyo hotels, at 21m² (226ft²).

Whereas the annex rooms I remember from last time were clean and functional, if a little dated in their decor, these renovated rooms in the main building have an all-new look that is warm and modern, with little traditionally-Japanese touches here and there to define the look.  A shoji-style sliding door separates the bedroom from the entrance hall, allowing extra privacy if, for example, your partner is getting in the bath.  Conveniences are plenty, from the free and fully stocked coffee/tea set, to the USB wall ports beside the beds.

One minor difference, which even I had not seen before in all my time in Japan, was the toilet being situated in a separate room from the bath.  There is a small sink present, but unless you move some soap in here, you'll have to go around to the other room to wash your hands.

A unique amenity offered by Shiba Park Hotel is their series of Japanese Cultural Experiences.  An instructor, who speaks English to a decent degree, will guide your small group in one of several activities, including origami, tea ceremony, calligraphy.  I signed us up for the calligraphy course, the results of which you can see above.  Different courses are held each day of the week at 9:30 AM and 5:30 PM, and range in cost from free to ¥1,000 per person.

Shiba Park Hotel, and the Shiba-koen/Daimon neighbourhood as a whole, makes for a convenient base when flying into or out of Haneda Airport.  Both rail options from the airport, the Tokyo Monorail and Asakusa subway line, have stops in the vicinity (Hamamatsucho and Daimon stations, respectively)  After our arrival experience, walking the 10 minutes all the way from Hamamatsucho with our luggage, proved less than ideal, we asked our hotel to arrange a taxi to pick us up on checkout and take us to the station, from where we would ride the Tokyo Monorail the rest of the way.  It was an ideal compromise, compared to the cost of taking a taxi all the way!  Since Shiba Park Hotel receives a lot of visitors from overseas, especially with tour groups, their staff speaks good English and is able to accommodate a variety of requests like these.

Whether or not you wind up using Haneda Airport as your entrance or exit to Tokyo, the Shiba Park Hotel is a welcoming choice.  I'm glad I got to share it with you when I could, because I have only a couple of articles from this trip left to write.  Find out where in Tokyo I went from here, next time on Sekai Ichi!

---

Shiba Park Hotel

Address: 1-5-10 Shiba-kōen, Minato-ku, Tōkyō-to 〒101-0011

Access: Shiba Park Hotel is 3 minutes from Daimon (Toei Asakusa (A) and Oedo (E) lines) and Onarimon (Toei Mita (I) line) stations, or 10 minutes from Hamamatsucho Station (JR Yamanote (JY), Keihin-Tohoku (JK), and Tokyo Monorail (MO) lines).

Directions: From Tokyo Station, take the JR Yamanote or Keihin-Tohoku line to Hamamatsucho (JY28/JK23, 5 minutes, ¥160).  From the North Exit, cross the street and turn left.  Continue on for 5 minutes (400m), and cross and turn right at the third traffic light, just before the large torii gate.  Continue on for 2 more minutes (200m), and after the next traffic light, the hotel will be on the left side.

Alternatively, walk to the nearby Otemachi subway station and take the Toei Mita subway to Onarimon (I06, 5 minutes, ¥180).  From exit A2, head forward, cross the street ahead, and turn left.  At the next traffic light, turn right, and the hotel will be on the right side.

From Shinjuku Station (not Shinjuku-Nishiguchi), take the Toei Oedo subway to Daimon (E20, 15 minutes, ¥220).  From exit A6, head forward and turn right at the next light, as described above.

Website: (English) (Japanese)

Matsumoto Nakamachi District

This article is based on a visit made on Saturday, 19 May 2018.

Previously on Sekai Ichi, I visited Matsumoto Castle during a brief stopover on my way back to Tokyo.  But rather than leave it at that, I spent some time at Nakamachi (中町), the merchant district which grew in the Edo period, under the auspices of the castle's lords.

Nakamachi is famous for its style of storehouse, or kura (蔵), architecture.  Key aspects of the kura style are thick, white-washed, earthen walls, black tile roofs, and lattice grid patterns along the sides.  Kura are a common site in many of Japan's old towns, as their sturdy construction was an invaluable method of keeping rice and other stockpiles safe and secure.  Further examples, authentic or less so, can be seen scattered about the city, even at this convenience store across from the entrance to Matsumoto Castle.

On the way we passed an old bookstore designed after the black-and-white castle.  It looked all the more surreal squeezed in between two modern rectangular buildings.  To the right is a souvenir store where my grandmother found a temari handball for one of her friends, having fallen in love with the things at first sight in Kanazawa.

Heading down from Matsumoto Castle, our path took us to two parallel streets on either side of the Metoba River.  Just along the north side of the river is Nawate-dori (縄手通り).  This lane of shops was set up in the Meiji period, attracting visitors on their way to the nearby Yohashira Shrine (四柱神社).  This arrangement is similar to what sprang up around Senso-ji in Tokyo or Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto.

Nawate-dori is commonly known as "Frog Street", and the reason behind this association is a pun.  The Japanese word for frog, "kaeru" (蛙/かえる), sounds the same as a form of "to buy" (買える), which shop owners called out to potential customers passing by.

Moving on, Nakamachi-dori presents a completely different vibe at first.  The wider road, the bright white walls of the kura buildings, and the beautiful weather of this particular day all give it an open, airy feel in comparison to Nawate-dori.

Nakamachi-dori hosts a wide selection of restaurants.  The cuisines on offer include Japanese kaiseki, izakaya pubs, noodles, bakeries, and Korean barbecue.  Our choice for lunch was Hawaiian Dining Hula-la, a Hawaiian-themed burger joint, as the name implies.

I was intrigued to find sugidama, decorations on the front of sake breweries that were prevalent in Takayama's old town, here in Matsumoto as well.  As it turns out, this sugidama belongs to a community centre called the Nakamachi Kurassic-kan (中町 蔵シック館), a pun using the word for warehouse, "kura", as part of "kurasshiku", the Japanese spelling of "classic".

---

663highland / CC BY-SA

Nakamachi also has an eclectic assortment of museums, which we regrettably eschewed in favour of returning to Tokyo sooner.  In the middle of Nakamachi-dori is a Weights and Scales Museum, and just past the west exit, across the main road, is the Matsumoto Timepiece Museum (shown above).  With a giant grandfather clock built above the entrance, you can't miss it.

By 663highland [GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0 or CC BY 2.5], from Wikimedia Commons

A short walk from the far exit of Nakamachi will bring you to the Matsumoto City Art Museum (松本市美術館, Matsumoto-shi Bijutsukan), which I featured on my list of Japan's top ten contemporary art museums.  It hosts the works of local artists of the past and present, from sculptures to calligraphy to the festive pop art of Yayoi Kusama (草間彌生, b.1929).

TAKA@P.P.R.S / CC BY-SA

For one last pic to brighten your day, even the vending machines at Matsumoto City Art Museum are coated in Kusama's signature polka-dot pattern, as are the top-right row of cans.  Pity that they don't seem to be for sale, since that would make for one stylish can of Coke.  But whatever; I've got further business to wrap up back in Tokyo, next time on Sekai Ichi!

---

Directions: To go by bus, take the East Town Sneaker bus from Matsumoto Station's Oshiro-guchi exit to Kura-no-machi Namakachi (5 minutes, ¥200).

To go by foot, start from Matsumoto Station's Oshiro-guchi exit and head straight down the main road.  After 5 minutes, turn left at the fourth traffic light (Fukashi 2-chome / 深志二丁目), then continue straight for 4 minutes.  The entrance to Nakamachi-dori will be on the right.  Nawate-dori is the second right afterwards, just past the bridge.

Hawaiian Dining Hula-la

Hours: Open from 11:30 AM to 10:00 PM, or to 11:00 PM on Saturdays and holidays.  Last orders end 1 hour before closing time.  No regular closing days.

Address: 2-5-13 Chuo, Matsumoto, Nagano 〒390-0811

Directions: From the Kura-no-machi Nakamachi bus stop, turn around and start towards the main road.  About halfway down the block, the restaurant will be on the left side.

Website: (Japanese)

Matsumoto Timepiece Museum

Hours: Open from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.  Admission ends 30 minutes before closing time.  Closed on Mondays and from 29 December to 3 January.

Costs: ¥300.

Address: 1-21-15 Chuo, Matsumoto-shi, Nagano-ken 〒390-0811

Directions: From the Kura-no-machi Nakamachi bus stop, turn around and head towards the main road.  Cross it, turn right, then take the next left.  The museum will be on the left side, at the next corner.

Website: (Japanese)

Matsumoto City Art Museum

Hours: Open from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.  Closed Mondays and from 29 December to 2 January.

Cost: ¥410.

Address: 4-2-20 Chuo, Matsumoto-shi, Nagano-ken 〒390-0811

Access: From Matsumoto Station, take the East Town Sneaker bus to Matsumoto-shi Bijutsukan (16 minutes, ¥200).

Directions: To walk to the museum from the Kura-no-machi Nakamachi bus stop, head straight down the street (300m) until you reach the stoplight at the other end, and turn right.  Continue on (300m) to the next traffic light and turn left.  Continue on (300m), and the museum will be on your left, past the next traffic light.

Website: (English) (Japanese)

Matsumoto Castle

This article is based on a visit made on Saturday, 19 May 2018.

Previously on Sekai Ichi, I took a detour on my way back to Tokyo, courtesy of the Resort View Furusato train.  We disembarked at Matsumoto Station, and hopped a bus to the central focus of the city: the eponymous Matsumoto Castle (松本城, Matsumoto-jō), which is one of Japan's twelve remaining feudal-era castles.

Matsumoto Castle, in its current form, was completed in 1594, replacing a fort that stood on its spot for almost a century beforehand.  It was the headquarters of the Matsumoto Domain until the Meiji Restoration of 1868, when the land was put up for auction, but spared from redevelopment thanks to the citizens' efforts.  Since then, the castle was acquired by the city government and preserved as a museum.

The castle is surrounded by small but pleasant park area, and guarded over by its mascot character, Alp-chan (アルプちゃん, Arupu-chan).  True to its name, its helmet evokes the mountains of the nearby Japan Alps.

Something I highly recommend doing ahead of visiting is to sign up for a free volunteer guide to take you along through the castle.  The Alps Language Service Association offers these guides in English and other select languages.  To apply, visit their booth at the south entrance to the castle park (open from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM), or apply on their website up to two weeks before your visit.  More information: (English)

Obviously, neither of these cosplayers were my guide, but the actual guide did help take my picture here.

Because it was never reconstructed, Matsumoto Castle has maintained the same authentic wooden interior since it was built centuries ago.  What is different nowadays is that the keep hosts a museum, which focuses on weaponry of feudal Japan.  One fact I learned here was that women played a role in maintaining the castle's defences, in particular by making gunpowder.

Where there are weapons, one needs armour.  Our guide told us an anecdote about George Lucas visiting a Japanese castle before developing the first Star Wars movie in the '70s, giving him design inspirations for the character Darth Vader.  I wasn't able to confirm this in my own research, but samurai armour was cited as a reference by other concept artists who worked on the film, especially the shape of the kabuto helmets.

The keep contains six storeys, despite the outside appearance of only five.  If you recall from my visit to Nagoya Castle, this is a common defence tactic of Japanese castle construction.  The stairs leading up to the fourth floor and beyond are dangerously steep, but your reward is witnessing these splendid views from the top floor!  These views would be even more splendid in mid-April, when the hundreds of cherry trees planted around the gardens bloom into pink petals.

From this angle, we can see a red-railed bridge, which makes for a photogenic shot when viewed from ground level, combined with the keep.  If it is normally possible to walk across this bridge, it was not so that day, having been closed off for some sort of repairs.

The top floor has a small shrine hidden up in the rafters.  It was here where my guide told me about the symbolism behind the shimenawa, how the ropes and paper tassels represent clouds and lightning.

On your way down, your path will lead you into one of the castle's secondary turrets.  Shown above, the 3-storey "moon-viewing turret" (月見の宴, tsukimi no yagura) was added in 1634, in anticipation of a visit from the national lord Tokugawa Iemitsu.  Ironically, the shogun's path was blocked by a rock slide and he never showed up.

With my sign-off selfie, I would once again like to extend a big thank you to Reiko (right), our volunteer guide.  With her insight, I am comfortable confirming Matsumoto Castle as one of Japan's finest castles to visit, rivaled only by the "white egret" itself, Himeji Castle.  But there's more to Matsumoto than just the castle, and if you'll stick around with me, I'd like to show you a bit more of the city, next time on Sekai Ichi!

---

Hours: Open from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM, or from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM during Golden Week and O-Bon.  Admission ends 30 minutes before closing time.  Closed on 29-31 December.

Costs: ¥610.

Address: 4-1 Marunouchi, Matsumoto-shi, Nagano-ken 〒390-0873

Access: Matsumoto Castle is 8 minutes by bus, or 15 minutes by foot, from Matsumoto station.

Directions: To go by bus, take the Town Sneaker North bus from Matsumoto Station's Oshiro-guchi exit to Matsumoto-jo/Shiyakusho-mae (8 minutes, ¥200).

To go by foot, start from Matsumoto Station's Oshiro-guchi exit and head straight down the main road.  After 5 minutes, turn left at the fourth traffic light (Fukashi 2-chome / 深志二丁目), then continue straight for 10 minutes, bearing right after crossing the river mid-way.

Website: (English) (Japanese)