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  In Matsmoto it is not so humid but the sunshine is very strong in summer. It's fun to walk in the town. Especially the view of Nakamachi-dori street, along which the mud-walled warehouses plastered in white are standing side by side, is suitable to the strong sunshine.
  The street has gotten the secondly most visitors after the castle-park.
  There are such a few tall buildings that we can look at the open summer sky over the street, then we would feel released very much.

▲Nakamachi street crowded by people in mind summer

⇒Town-Map of Matsumoto

Matsumoto City is lying at the center of Nagano Pref.. There are so many hand- craft-shops, folkcraft- shops or museums in the city that we feel about it a strong taste of art and culture, as the famous classic music festival is hold there every year.   Above all Nakamachi- dori has a very unique ckaracter.   Walking along the street, I found a bus, on body of which was painted the pattern of red polka-dots. Kusama Yayoi's artwork is running around the city.   Over the bus having run off from the stop I looked at Utsukushi -gahara Highlands. Its peaks were covered with the cloud-clusters of cumulonimba.   The street of Naka- machi was called Zenkoji-kaido once. The road is running from west to east in Nakamachi town where most of commercial activities were concent- rated in the old days.   The Kaido comes from Kiso-area to the town. But in front of Ootemon, i.e. the official main gate of the castle, it turns east and does agein north at the end of the street, to take roundabout the towns just down the castle.   The Kaido-road must have kept a distance from a core-zone of the clan-administration.   Zenkoji-kaido is an approaching way to Zenkoji temple in Nagano. It was formally called West Bypass of Hokkoku- kaido. Travellers walking along Naka -sendo from Kyoto or Osaka had to change their way at the stage- town Seba into the road to visit Zenkoji temple.   As old Nakamachi town was lying along the Kaido, rich Sake brewers and wholesale merchants of clothes or papers got together there. And thus the town prospered as a center of commerce. It was a core of the stage -town Matsumoto.   But it had been destroyed by spreading fires several times. Then the merchants built the mud-walled and tile-roofed ware- houses with Namako- kabe walls to avoid fire. Namako-kabe is the wall covered with black square-tiles jointed with white raised- plaster.   In the town many mud-walled warehouses in such a mode have been conserved or restored in these decades. That brings out the Japanese taste beautifullness suitable to the tradition of the old city Matsmoto. It is the unifying concept of town-forming in Nakamachi street.

A shuttle bus of the city : red polka-dots impress us strongly Walking with a hand-fan in hand is nice in mid summer Mud-walled warehouses with Namamokabe are uniform of the town Distant view of Utsukushigahara highlands eastward over rooves Traditional town-houses standing on front side along street, tall buildings behind them If it's fine wa can see Norhtern Alps westward Old town-houses mixed into contemporary townscape Stone-paved sidewalk on both sides comfortable for walkers Middle aged couple suitable to the town