Jinja and Shoga: Life in the Land of the Rising Sun

  This is the last post from our Nagano trip; there'd be one more detailing our long drive up a mountain to a famous cow farm, had we not discovered upon arrival that it was too cold for the cows to be out and about! (Too cold?? I've seen cows out in the snow before in the Midwest! Lazy pampered mountain cows).
  ...Downtown Matsumoto is famous for its old-style buildings and store fronts, although it would appear that most of them have been re-made in recent years, albeit keeping with the traditional style. Here are a few samples from the main shopping area.

                          The only cow we managed to get a picture with