Looking across the rooftops of Matsushiro after a new snow from the side of Mt. Zozan. These mountains made the village very defensible in the days of the samurai and is a large part of why the Imperial Japanese government chose Matsushiro for their last stand.

Two years ago, when we first started Wayfarer Daves, the first full article we published was about the unfinished Matsushiro Daihonei, or Imperial General Headquarters in Matsushiro, a small village in Nagano, Japan.  You can find Mr. Krigbaum’s original article here.  I recommend you go and give it a read, since I am not going to go into a lot of the details here.  For those who haven’t heard of the Matsushiro Daihonei, here is a brief recap.  As World War II started going badly for Japan and it looked more and more like they would have to fight a defense of the home islands, the Imperial Japanese military began construction of several large bunkers in the mountains of Matsushiro, in Nagano Prefecture.  Matsushiro is a small village nestled in a valley and surrounded on three sides by tall mountains, which makes it a very defensible position.  With the strength of the position and the mountain bunkers and the Japanese desire to fight to the last man, it is entirely possible that, had these fortifications been finished and put into service, the war wouldn’t have ended, nukes and Soviets or not.  Luckily, the war ended a few weeks before the first bunkers were finished, and history unfolded the way we remembered.

A road in Matsushiro. the day before I visited, Nagano had a heavy snowstorm. I spent much of the storm on a nearby mountain photographing snow monkeys, but that is another article.

But David already wrote the fully history of this place.  The reason I am revisiting Matsushiro is because I recently revisited Matsushiro.  Over the recent holidays, I traveled through Nagano in search of Japanese Macaques, or snow monkeys, and on the return trip, I made it a point to stop back in Matsushiro to follow up with the museum and check on how things have progressed.  The last time we visited, nearly 5 years ago, the small museum was in a temporary building a short distance from the preserved section of the tunnels with plans to rebuild the old comfort women’s house and expand the museum.  So, since I was back in Nagano, I decided to check in.

The tunnels of the Matsushiro Daihonei, or Matsushiro Imperial Headquarters in Nagano, Japan.

I arrived in Matsushiro the day after a heavy snowstorm, which covered everything in heavy white snow.  People were starting to shovel out as I got off the bus in the morning, and I forewent the old Sanada estate and samurai homes, stopping only at Zozan Shrine and another small shrine and temple along the way.  So it didn’t take long to reach the old headquarters and the museum, though when I arrived, I found the museum closed for renovations.  The museum building, from the outside, looked the same as it was before, perhaps with an added wing in the back.  The museum itself didn’t look like it was undergoing any changes, however the lot between the museum parking and the headquarters entrance had a small, half finished building being worked on by a small crew.  The museum was closed, but the tunnels themselves were, somehow, still open to the public, and there was an older gentleman in the little, temporary office who was most helpful.  Talking to him, he explained that the construction was a new welcome center, and when it is finished in March 2018, the temporary office, the old metal cabinets full of hard hats, and the old, rusted trailers housing the toilets will be moved into the new building.  It isn’t exactly the reconstruction of the old, historic buildings or a large expansion of the museum, but it is still good to see that they are expanding the facilities that they have.  Visiting sites like these, where the war is honestly portrayed is a refreshing change from Tokyo, where the nationalists try to portray Japan as the victim, fully justified in their invasions and colonialism.

Chains of paper cranes, a common offering for peace in Japan, are tied to a fence on the far end of the opened tunnels.

In closing, I just want to say that, if you are ever in Nagano, you should take the 30 minute bus ride to Matsushiro.  It is easier to find than it was five years ago, since Matsushiro and the Daihonei are now featured in the English Nagano tourism guides.  Between the old samurai estates, the old fort, and the WWII history, it is worth spending a day.  Now, I leave you with a quote from the monument out in front of the headquarters.

“During the last war, Japan gave much pain to the other Asian countries.  But we Japanese have kept our eyes away from these historical events, and learned the “history” authorized by the Government for more than half a century.  We think (that) unless we, Japanese recognize our true history.. we can’t have true friendship and understanding with people from other countries, especially Asian countries”