A beautiful and unique black castle located in Matsumoto. It is easy to get 'castle burnout' in Japan, but Matsumoto Castle is stunning. The wooden structure has multiple stories and is situated on manicured grounds.

I made the mistake of opting for a free guided tour by an English speaking guide located at the gates. I thought it was a tour of the castle with a guide, it ended up being 45 mins of standing basically in the same spot in the sun while the guide confusingly explained the complicated history of the ruling dynasties while furiously flicking through a folder of information. After we went through the ticket gates he took a photo of me and then said the tour was over! It wasn't what I was expecting but the gentleman was nice enough. By that time however, it was starting to get busy (9.45am) and I joined a short queue to enter the castle.

You must take your shoes off and then carry them in a plastic bag around with you. This then only gives you one free hand to navigate the very steep and dangerous stairs. The stairs are very narrow, very high and over 60 degree incline - almost a ladder in parts. Some stairs have two directional traffic on very low width staircases. Add in polished wooden floors, slightly sweaty socks and you are saying your prayers each step you take.

Not to be dramatic, but my life flashed before my eyes about 3 times and it was mostly from people above me slipping and me thinking I was going to get flattened and me muttering something about being too young to die.

Dont attempt this if you arent decently fit.. its hard work to get to the top level and if you have a medical emergency it wont end well.

The castle should look into a locker system for the shoes - to give everyone use of both hands for the stair railings.