Is this the best bar in the world? (with a short discourse on Tokyo)

We never intended to go to Matsumoto. Some FCO advice to not go to Tokyo meant we did some hasty rejigging of our Japanese itinerary from Beijing and we booked two nights in this mountain city near(ish) Tokyo for our final few days. However, I am delighted we did - it's a gem.

There are only two sights in Matsumoto - the castle is magnificent and its setting in the Japanese Alps couldn't be better. Every view of the castle is framed by them on the horizon or - in our case - the cherry blossom around the park. Inside the castle has all the cool things (arrow and musket holes, two moats, hidden floors) that we have come to expect, and the views from the top were fantastic. Secondly, Matsumoto has the Ukiyo-e museum, the most expensive museum we've been to in Japan (but still less than St Paul's, even for churchgoers who pay for its upkeep - but I digress) but was worth it. They - woodblock prints - are exquisite. Anna was beside herself with excitement, and I thought it was ace. We're now a little poorer and spent much of the next few days struggling to work out how to bring back a handmade copy back to the UK without damaging it, but we did it.

However, these pale into insignificance beside my discovery of what is essentially the best bar in the world, called I think Jun. On our lovely Ryokan's hand drawn map of the city, there was a little bar to the north which simply said 'if you like whiskey and Monty Python' - we went. It was amazing and a labour of love for the owners even if not with the public (it wasn't busy even on a Friday). The bar, walls and even the floor were up to three deep in whiskey with piles of publications relating to whisky in the common area. The walls were covered with film posters, with the Rocky Horror Picture Show prominently displayed and stills of Dylan and the Doors by the entrance. The bar area were covered with Python cards and the flags of all the home nations adorned the top and ceiling. Save for a lack of reference to Byzantine and early Christian history and a lack of port I could have designed it. Anna at one point opined that she wasn't sure it was real and not called forth from my imagination. The owner was delightful and took us through some (very lovely) Japanese whisky, even throwing some little side tastings of interesting whiskies for free. Despite this, it was hideously expensive, but it was totally worth it.

Tokyo was a bit of a disappointment after this, but fun enough. I'm glad we cut down to a day there as a lot of the city was still subdued - early closing for museums, some escalators not working etc. However, even at full tilt I'm not sure how much I would have liked it - too many people, too little to see. That said, we had a very jolly evening there on our last night and much sushi to remember Japan by.