Personalized Star Map of Matsumoto
36.2380°N, 137.9719°E
At the foot of the Japanese Alps, Matsumoto watches over one of Japan's finest castles, nicknamed "the Crow" for its dark, menacing silhouette. From the snowy peaks of Kamikōchi to the wasabi plantations of Daiō, the city offers an alpine sky of remarkable transparency. Gift a Matsumoto star map — a present as pure as the meltwater of the North Alps.
Famous Landmarks
Matsumoto Castle (Black Crow Castle)
36.2380°N, 137.9719°E
Matsumoto Castle, built between 1592 and 1614, is one of Japan's five National Treasure castles and houses the country's oldest original keep still standing. Its nickname "Crow Castle" (Karasu-jō) comes from its walls of black lacquered wood, contrasting with the whiteness of other Japanese castles. Its six storeys and slanted secondary keep are unique for their flatland configuration, with no natural relief to defend it.
Kamikōchi Alps
36.2380°N, 137.9719°E
Kamikōchi, an alpine valley at 1,500 metres in the North Alps, is one of Japan's finest mountain landscapes. Protected from mass tourism — private vehicles are banned — it unfolds panoramas of the Hotaka, Yake and Yari peaks, and the Azusa River with its turquoise waters. The wooden Kappabashi Bridge is one of the most photographed viewpoints in the archipelago.
Daio Wasabi Farm
36.2380°N, 137.9719°E
Daio Wasabi Farm, on the Azumino plain near Matsumoto, is Japan's largest wasabi farm, with 15 hectares of plantations fed by the pure, cool waters of the Alps. Wasabi grows here in constant-flow channels where the water, at 13°C year-round, provides ideal conditions for this iconic root of Japanese cuisine. The farm welcomes one million visitors a year.
Why gift a star map of Matsumoto?
Gifting a star map of Matsumoto means capturing the purity of a starlit night above the black castle and the Japanese Alps. Whether for a proposal facing Kamikōchi's snowy peaks or an anniversary in a Nakamachi alley, this map immortalises an alpine moment of rare transparency. A gift as limpid as the spring water of Azumino.
The sky of Matsumoto
At 36.24° north latitude and 590 metres elevation, Matsumoto enjoys an exceptionally transparent northern sky. The Norikura Skyline observatory site, at 3,026 metres in the neighbouring Alps, reaches Bortle 1 to 2 ratings — among the darkest skies in Japan, comparable to the world's best astronomy sites. Winter nights there allow distant nebulae to be observed with the naked eye.