Discover the charms and food culture of the Asama Onsen district of historic Matsumoto City, on this 5-hour guided walking tour. Led by a locally-based guide, you’ll delve into the tastes and traditions of the historic hot spring area starting with a ‘soba’-making (buckwheat noodle) experience. 

Famous for its soba, Matsumoto is the ideal place to try your hand a making your own delicious noodles. You’ll be guided each step of the way as you roll, knead and cut your way to the perfect noodle as you play the role of an apprentice soba chef for the morning.

Before sitting down to enjoy your handmade soba lunch, you’ll also be treated to a guided ‘sake’ tasting, as some of the best local sakes are poured and explained for you. Known as ‘soba-mae’, enjoying a good sake before a good soba meal is something of a local tradition. Your soba lunch is complemented with freshly-grated ‘wasabi’, another of the region’s most famous products – a surprisingly versatile flavour which enhances subtle pleasure of the noodles.

Well-filled and warmed by the sake, lunch is followed by exploration of Asama Onsen on-foot, in which time you can tip your feet in an outdoor ‘ashi-yu’ (foot hot spring) or even enjoy strawberry-picking – an ideal way spend a day-out in Matsumoto.

Available upon on request at all times of year, tours are typically conducted between 10:00 until 15:00, with the booking office open from 08:00 to 18:00. Bookings can be made using the phone number and email listed above.