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Day 17: Matsumoto
Matsumoto was one of my favourite cities in Japan.
I wasn't in very good mood in the morning when I arrived from Tokyo to Matsumoto. It was Monday, and my final week in Japan was starting. I could already feel the end of my holiday approaching. I was also leaving behind all my friends in Tokyo, and didn't have any more meetings planned for the rest of the trip.
But Matsumoto turned out to be really charming a city, and my blues washed away pretty quickly. The town is situated in a beautiful location on a small plateau in the middle of Japanese Alps. It has about the same population as my home town, Tampere (although Matsumoto felt a little bit smaller). And it felt like a real town, unlike my other destination in the Alps, Hida-Takayama, which felt like only a tourist destination.
And most importantly, Matsumoto is the home my favourite bar in all of Japan. "Main Bar Coat" has seats for only 22 customers, and when those seats were filled, no more customers were allowed in. Serving the customers there was a staff of three bartenders, and more people in the kitchen. All bartenders spoke pretty good English and engaged in small talk with customers. The place had an excellent selection of Japanese whiskeys, which the staff was happy to introduce, and which I was happy to sample.
Day 17: Matsumoto
Matsumoto was one of my favourite cities in Japan.
I wasn't in very good mood in the morning when I arrived from Tokyo to Matsumoto. It was Monday, and my final week in Japan was starting. I could already feel the end of my holiday approaching. I was also leaving behind all my friends in Tokyo, and didn't have any more meetings planned for the rest of the trip.
But Matsumoto turned out to be really charming a city, and my blues washed away pretty quickly. The town is situated in a beautiful location on a small plateau in the middle of Japanese Alps. It has about the same population as my home town, Tampere (although Matsumoto felt a little bit smaller). And it felt like a real town, unlike my other destination in the Alps, Hida-Takayama, which felt like only a tourist destination.
And most importantly, Matsumoto is the home my favourite bar in all of Japan. "Main Bar Coat" has seats for only 22 customers, and when those seats were filled, no more customers were allowed in. Serving the customers there was a staff of three bartenders, and more people in the kitchen. All bartenders spoke pretty good English and engaged in small talk with customers. The place had an excellent selection of Japanese whiskeys, which the staff was happy to introduce, and which I was happy to sample.