Hello!
It’s the middle of December in Matsumoto, and finally, after a long summer and an unusually warm autumn, winter has arrived. Nights have been as cold as -5 degrees, and life in town has become slower.

Yesterday, it was the second day of the illumination at Matsumoto Castle, so I went to see it!

My friends told me that during the first years, projection mapping at Matsumoto Castle was not the best, but that it’s improving a lot year by year. 

Once the season for Kamikochi closes, tourism comes to a halt, so projection mapping was originally an idea to invite people to visit Matsumoto in the colder months as well.

This year, projection mapping will continue until February 16th.
Projections will vary, this time I saw some historical pictures, but the next themes will be:

Snow, ice and starry sky (from January 8th to January 25th)
and
Spring is coming (from January 25th to February 16th).

The projections last for 12 minutes – with 5 minutes breaks before they are replayed. They continue from 18 to 21 every day. I would recommend going early, evenings are freezing already.

Some pictures from the projection “History”

I don’t know a lot about projection mapping, but I thought it was really nice.
I would recommend it to children and Matsumoto Castle fans!