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MATSUE |
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Straddling the strip of land between the lagoons of Nakaumi-ko and
Shinji-ko is MATSUE , the appealing prefectural capital of Shimane-ken,
180km east of Tsuwano, and one of the highlights of the San-in coast.
Although the city's main sights - one of Japan's few original castles,
Matsue-jo , an area of samurai residences, the museum and one-time home
of nineteenth-century expat writer Lafcadio Hearn - are so closely
grouped together that they can all easily be seen in half a day, there
are good reasons for lingering in Matsue. The lakes, rivers and castle
moat lend this modern city a soothing, faintly Venetian atmosphere. It's
still possible to catch glimpses of the old Japan that so enchanted
Hearn a century ago, such as fishermen casting their nets in Shinji-ko ,
or prodding the lake bed with poles, searching out shellfish.
A timelessness also pervades Matsue's elegant eighteenth-century Meimei-an
teahouse and garden, its beauty exceeded only by the stunning landscapes
on view at the Adachi Museum of Art , 20km east of the city. Also out of
town, the shrines and first-century burial tumuli at Fudoki-no-Oka are
testimony to the ancient history of the area, while Izumo Taisha , 35km
west, is one of Japan's most important shrines, holiday home of the
Shinto pantheon of deities, and the reason that Matsue was dubbed "chief
city of the province of the gods", by Hearn. Heading 130km east of
Matsue, the prefectural capital of Tottori offers little of interest
except for its 16km of sand dunes. Further east again, the onsen town of
Kinosaki makes a pleasant stopover en route to Amanohashidate.
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