April couldn’t be a better month to be in Matsumoto because this month, Mother Nature is putting on her biggest show—the cherry blossoms! Also for all you history buffs out there, you’ll love the old-fashioned gun demonstration that gets held at Matsumoto Castle.

Cherry Blossom Viewing Around Matsumoto

The best place to find cherry blossom spots in Matsumoto and blooming forecasts/status updates is right here on Visit Matsumoto: Just visit our Sakura Forecast page!

Nighttime Cherry Blossom Light-up Events at Matsumoto Castle

Once the cherry blossoms start blooming in the inner garden (Honmaru Garden) of Matsumoto Castle, there is an eight-day event where you can enter the garden free of charge to see the blossoms lit up at night. You can also grab seat and some Japanese tea for a small fee in the castle garden (5:30 to 9:00).

Also, once the cherry blossoms around the moat of Matsumoto Castle start to bloom, a « Corridor of Light » event is held for 10 days where the trees are lit up all around the path.

The dates are still TBA, so keep an eye out on the Cherry Blossom Forecast, the Events page, and on Matsumoto Castle’s event page. According to the forecast, the blossoms will start to bloom April 4 and usually bloom in the second week of April at the castle.

Restaurant Crawl for Sake Lovers in Nakamachi: Nakamachi Masu Tegata

Get your own wooden sake cup and go out on the town at this three week event. It’s going on now in Nakamachi so don’t miss out! See details on the Masu Tegata event page and this blog post.

Dates: March 24 through April 14, 2018
Location: Nakamachi Street

Kamikochi Opening Festival

A shinto ceremony and other festivities including imbibing local sake will take place to mark the reopening of Kamikochi for the season.
See the Kamikochi offical website’s Events page or this blog article about last year’s festival.
Date: April 27, 2018
Admission: Free

Old-fashioned Gunnery Excercises

Held at Matsumoto Castle. See a demonstration of 16-17th century guns by gunners clad in samurai armor.

Date: April 29, 2018
Admission: Free admission into the Honmaru Garden where the event is held. Ticket is required to enter the castle.

See the event page or Matsumoto Castle’s event page for more details.