Matsumoto Castle, Matsumoto, Nagano, Part II

Continuing on with our tour of Matsumoto Castle in Matsumoto, Nagano.

Lining up to go to the 4th floor. Quite a view, huh?

Matsumoto Castle, Matsumoto, Nagano

C., A., hubby, and I got off the bus at Matsumoto Station at around 2pm. All of us were still stuffed from the big ryokan breakfast and decided to skip lunch. Instead, we helped C. and A. stash their luggage in a coin locker (love traveling in Japan for things like this!) and sort out their shinkansen tickets to the next destination.

They were heading on to Kanazawa, a recommendation I'd made based on how much A. loves zen gardens and Japanese gardens in general. After all, Kenroku-en of Kanazawa is one of three most famous gardens in all of Japan. In fact, if time permits I'd like to do a blast-from-the-past series and post about my Japan travels as a JET way back in 2005-2006. With all of its ups and downs, that single year changed my life and kept me (and hubby!) going back to Japan again and again.

Anyway, it was about 2:30pm when we were pondering what to do with the rest of our afternoon. I proposed Matsumoto Castle, which had been pretty high on my to-see list. Matsumoto along with Himeji and Kumamoto Castles are three of Japan's most famous castles (yes, they love top 3's rankings over there).

Iwanoyu at Seni Onsen, Suzaka, Nagano, Part IV

Last of the Iwanoyu at Seni Onsen saga. Phew. Breakfast was served from 7:30-9am, and checkout time was 12pm. We expected another gigantic meal and opted for 9am, as late as possible being still full from dinner the night before.

We both breathed a collective relief when we saw our breakfast, thinking, wow, okay, we can definitely do this!

Iwanoyu at Seni Onsen, Suzaka, Nagano, Part III

Just as we left Iwanoyu at Seni Onsen's private bath 5, it was time for dinner. Dinner was served anytime between 6-7:30, but it'd be a long course dinner that would leave us stuffed to our ears. So we showed up at 6, just so we could take our time and can still visit the baths afterwards.

Iwanoyu at Seni Onsen, Suzaka, Nagano, Part II

More on Iwanoyu at Seni Onsen, or more specifically, their 5 private baths. Not wanting to lose daylight, hubby and I did a walk-through and took pictures, with plans to come back later and take our time to soak and relax.

Apparently everyone else had the same idea (ha!), so we ended up hanging out and chilling while waiting for the private baths to open up. I suppose this is the reason the ryokan has so many resting spots and small libraries.

Iwanoyu at Seni Onsen, Suzaka, Nagano

Hubby and I dated for years before we got engaged. When we did, we spent our engagement on opposite sides of the planet. He was finishing up his master's, and I was a lost JET in the Japanese inaka. We signed our marriage certificate on his graduation day, had a backyard bbq with just our immediate families, and called it a day. No wedding. No honeymoon. No regrets. We've been traveling together everywhere since.


This past May was our 10 years wedding anniversary, and we finally decided we would do something special. We both love onsens and ryokans, and so hubby bought a book detailing 60 of the best onsen ryokans all over Japan. Now let's be clear: there are hundreds, if not thousands of onsen ryokans all over Japan. These 60 onsen ryokans are special because their baths are of natural sulfur hot spring water, and of course because of excellent service, food, and facility. 

We knew we didn't want to go too far out to Hokkaido or Kyushu. After having picked out a dozen contenders in the nearby Yamanashi, Nagano, etc., we went with Iwanoyu (岩の湯) at Seni Onsen (仙仁温泉, not sure if this is an area or town name), in the city of Suzaka, Nagano.

We liked the photos we saw in the book. We liked that the ryokan has 5 private baths at no extra charge (if it's open, you go in, lock the door, and it's yours for however long you want!), in addition to the usual separated men and women baths, each with indoor and outdoor pools. The extra icing is a famous large "cave bath" for adventurers who like to explore. We liked that the kaiseki meal was described as one of the best around. It was really the food that sold me, surprise, surprise ^.^

Here's the wagashi and matcha we were served upon checking in.