Matsumoto Castle

Our stake president and his wife invited us to visit Matsumoto Castle on Thursday -- they were planning a trip there with her parents, who were visiting from Provo. President Madsen kindly called and got permission from the mission president for us to do this, as it's outside our mission boundaries. They rented a van on base, which was roomy and comfortable, and the drive was delightful -- fascinating scenery and rest stops unlike any we see in the U.S., with modern, immaculately clean rest rooms, restaurants, gift shops.

Yes, this is a rest stop, Japanese style.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of this sweet baby with his grandfather, who were very obliging. Arigatou gozaimasu! (Thank you!)

We drove through the Fuji Five Lakes area, which are at the base of Mt. Fuji, and quite a recreation area with sports events and amusement parks.  We caught just a glimpse of the top of the mountain through the clouds and hoped to get a better view on our return trip. We were in an area known as the Japanese Alps -- beautiful mountains and, yes, we did see a ski resort! 

President Madsen knows the area well. He is president of the only English speaking stake in Japan (there is also an English speaking district), so he travels a great deal. He doesn't have English speaking wards or branches in this part of the country, but he and his wife had visited here before. We felt very fortunate to have him as a driver and guide. We also enjoyed visiting with Sister Madsen's parents, who have served three missions, one humanitarian and two medical, in Peru, Albania, and England.

The castle is in the town of Matsumoto and is the oldest of the four castles remaining in Japan -- this one was built in the 1500s. Japanese religious and political history is so complex I find it quite overwhelming to try and figure it out and fit it into any kind of chronology or context. Sister Madsen teaches English to a class of Japanese women and she said even they struggle to understand their country's history. So I can't share too much about the castle's significance.

 Bruce and Sister Madsen looking at the castle.

It's certainly beautiful, immaculately maintained, and we were there at the peak 

of  the cherry blossoms!

This view, above, taken from the higher level inside the castle.

We had soba for lunch -- buckwheat noodles with shrimp in a delicious broth. Comfort food! 

We started our drive back after lunch and were rewarded by a brief glimpse of the top of Mt. Fuji, above the clouds. I couldn't really get a picture of it from the car, but I later found a postcard that looks a lot like what we saw.

We weren't this close, of course, and it wasn't quite this clear on top, but the clouds below the summit were very similar to this view. Really spectacular! I don't know if we'll ever get up that way again, so we were excited to see as much of it as we did.

On the drive back we stopped at a Shinto shrine, Shinto being the indigenous religion of the people of Japan. From wikipedia:  "Shinto today is a term that applies to the religion of public shrines devoted to the worship of a multitude of gods (kami), suited to various purposes such as war memorials and harvest festivals, and applies as well to various sectarian organizations. Practitioners express their diverse beliefs through a standard language and practice, adopting a similar style in dress and ritual, dating from around the time of the Nara and Heian periods."   Hmmmmm...... 

The above definition leaves me slightly more confused than I was before reading it. It would take me years of study to understand and place this in a historical context. Sister Madsen said her Japanese friends go to these shrines to pray, but they really can't define who they pray to. They may go to different shrines to pray for different purposes -- it seems much more traditional than spiritual.

In any case, the structures are beautiful and impressive. Here's Bruce standing at the foot of this gate -- to give you some idea of scale.

This wall was part of the shrine and we asked President Madsen the significance of the writing here. He grinned and we all had to smile when he said it's a list of donors!  Again, not so spiritual! :-)

All in all, we had a wonderful and fascinating day and have to keep telling ourselves that we're actually in Japan!