Matsumoto Castle: Free Dazzling Projection Shows 2025–26

A large-scale projection-mapping event will illuminate Matsumoto Castle this winter. National Treasure Matsumoto Castle Main Keep Projection Mapping 2025–2026, produced by HITOHATA, Inc. in collaboration with Epson affiliates, will run in Matsumoto Castle Park from December 13, 2025, through February 15, 2026. Admission is free and no advance registration is required.

The two-month program projects original, period-themed visuals onto the castle’s main keep and stone walls. Matsumoto Castle, one of Japan’s five surviving national-treasure castle keeps and the oldest example of a five-story, six-floor keep, will serve as a historic canvas for animations that fuse regional cultural assets with seasonal imagery.

Three distinct programs across the exhibition period

The installation unfolds as a seasonal trilogy of projection programs, each designed with a distinct artistic concept and visual language. All three cycles run nightly in rotation; each show lasts roughly nine minutes, followed by a three-minute intermission before repeating. The projection content on the keep is refreshed for each period to reflect its theme.

A Castle Beyond Time — The Story of Light (Dec. 13, 2025–Jan. 7, 2026 )

Photo example from previous year
This opening program uses layered animation and archival-inspired imagery to evoke the castle’s long history. Textured nishiki-e patterns, stylized maps and period motifs dissolve into modern cinematic sequences that trace Matsumoto’s evolution from a feudal stronghold to a cultural landmark. 

Photo example from previous year
Lighting shifts and subtle motion emphasize architectural details—turrets, eaves and stonework—so the keep itself becomes a living, timeworn tapestry. Sound design supports the narrative with restrained percussion and ambient tones that punctuate moments of revelation.

Memories of Light — A Digest of Famous Scenes (Jan. 8–Jan. 28, 2026 )

Photo example from previous year
This mid-run program compiles signature visual highlights into a dynamic highlights reel. Expect rapid, high-impact transitions that assemble memorable tableaux: bustling merchant scenes from historic nishiki-e, dramatic seasonal vistas of the Northern Alps, and bold, abstract compositions that play with scale and perspective. The pacing is brisker here to deliver concentrated bursts of color and motion, designed to showcase the project’s most impressive effects and to reward repeat visitors with condensed, showstopping moments.

Light-Blooming Keep — The Dawn of Spring (Jan. 29–Feb. 15, 2026)

Photo example from previous year
The final program ushers in spring motifs and softer, more lyrical imagery. Petal-by-petal bloom sequences of cherry blossoms and alpine flowers are rendered in layered translucency, while traditional craft motifs—temari, lanterns, and folding-screen patterns—unfurl and float across the façade. 

Photo example from previous year
Gentle color gradients move from winter’s cool blues to warmer pinks and golds, creating a sense of thaw and renewal.

Photo example from previous year
The animation is paced to feel immersive and meditative, inviting viewers to linger on delicate details and embrace the seasonal transition.

Each program’s content is unique to its period; visitors during different date ranges will see different full-length productions. Shows repeat continuously each evening between 18:00 and 22:00 with the announced intermission cadence. 

Cultural motifs, visual beauty and interactive features

Photo example from previous year
The mapping incorporates artworks from the Matsumoto City Museum, including nishiki-e (brocade prints) depicting the city’s merchant history and lavish folding screens.

Visuals draw on Matsumoto’s traditional crafts, temari thread balls, lanterns and other local handiwork, woven into cinematic sequences that blend historical texture with modern digital motion.

The projected imagery ranges from finely detailed ukiyo-e patterns that ripple across the castle’s timbers to sweeping, painterly landscapes that expand the silhouette of the keep. 

Photo example from previous year

Beyond the keep, the event offers interactive installations along park walkways, projection mapping at the castle gate, and broader illumination of Matsumoto Castle Park, providing multiple vantage points and light-art experiences for visitors.

National Treasure Matsumoto Castle Tower Projection Mapping 2025-2026

Dates: December 13, 2025–February 15, 2026.
Hours:18:00 to 22:00
Location: Matsumoto Castle Park, about a 20-minute walk from JR Matsumoto Station; buses stop at Matsumoto Castle / City Hall.
Parking: Matsumoto City Otemon parking facility (multilevel; 150 yen/30 min; 7:30–22:30), roughly an eight-minute walk to the castle.

Projections will proceed in rain or snow, though severe weather or seismic events may cause suspension or cancellation. Because sunsets grow later toward the end of the run, images may be less visible immediately at show start times. 

Visitors are asked to avoid flash and drone photography, limit tripod height to no higher than the photographer’s head, and refrain from extended front-row tripod use during busy periods. Video capture on smartphones is recommended to best record the fast-moving imagery.

Information and picture source: PR TIMES