Article in English Townscape with Rich Greenbelts

The road running between Matsmoto Shrine and the castle is surrounded by so many trees that we would like to call it a greenbelt.
The merit of that Matsumoto City has the castle-park in its core-zone is plentiful green. Such a landscape is getting in nice harmony with the moutains and highlands encircling the city.
Kaichi is the residential town having a retrospective atmosphere, as it neighboring the castle park. There are many sites, each of which is representing Edo period, Meiji period, Taisho period and Showa period.
For example, on the westside of Matsumoto Shrine we meet an old red post just beside a house of Showa period style.
Walking nortwards from the castle we find Kaichi Elemantary School which is of the contemporary design. Its tower looking like a pencil top is very imrpessive.
Behind it is standing Kaichi School which was built in Meiji period. The past and the present age in the architecture make a acute contrast in it.
The road toward Kaichi School is bordered with a greenbelt. The beautiful school house is a national cultural herritage which symbolizes Japan's modernization-westernization.
The building is of the style of quasi-european architecture, so to speak the mixture of Japanese and European.
It is a hip-roof style house which has a gable of Karahafu with a balcony at the central front. Karahafu gable is some kind of decoration charactaristic of Zen religion style architecture.
It was established in the medieval age under the infuluence of Chinese Zen religion from 13th to 14th century in Japan in corrsponding with rising of Samurai classes.
Thus the building is condensation of the history of eight centuries long, which symbolizes Japanese mind taking foreign techniques-cultures and combining them with its own one.

  城と松本神社の間を通る道路は、樹林と呼べるほど豊かな街路樹に縁どられている。街の中心部に城郭公園がある何よりの長所は、この緑の深さだ。それは、街と盆地を取り囲む雄大な山岳・高原とみごとに溶け合う。

▲松本神社の水場。ケヤキの大木が周囲に影を落とし、夏にはうれしい憩いの場となる。

  開智という地区は、お城のすぐ北隣にあるせいか、レトロな時代感覚を漂わせる街だ。江戸時代、明治時代、大正、昭和と。神社を通り過ぎると、あの懐かしい郵便ポストに出会うことになる。近隣の家の感じも「昭和風」【写真下】。

  北に歩くとＴ字路の向かいに開智小学校。現代風のデザインの学校で、鉛筆のような尖塔が目を引く。その奥には、明治時代の開智学校の建物が見えます。現代と過去とが建築様式として鋭い対比をなしている。

  小学校の校庭を回り込んで開智学校に向かう歩道も緑豊かな並木道【写真上】。
  国の重要文化財である建物は、明治初期の文明開化を象徴する疑似洋風建築で、和洋折衷の美しい建物だ。寄棟造りの建物の正面中央には唐破風があって、中国の宋から影響を受けた禅宗様式を洋風に仕立て上げている。
  外国の文化を取り込むのに長けた日本を代表するような雰囲気で、ざっと800年くらいの歴史を圧縮重層させたかのようだ。