^{Is it a little crazy that my travels in Japan are influenced by people born in the 1800’s? My regular readers already know I greatly admire the explorer and writer Isabella Bird – 1831 to 1904. I have visited many of the places she went to in Japan, and this year I will continue to follow her route when I return to Japan.}

^{The other person who informs my travels in Japan is the Irish/Greek Journalist/writer Lafcadio Hearn, known also in Japan as Yakumo Koizumi. Born in 1850, he died the same year as Bird.}

^{You can look up Hearn for yourself. His is quite a story. He was a fascinating character, with an incredible and very interesting history. Hearn is still celebrated both in New Orleans where he lived for many years, and in Japan, where the city of Matsue in Shimane prefecture maintains the home he lived in for public viewing.}

^{Matsue also holds an annual Irish festival on St Patricks Day! You cannot visit modern day Matsue without becoming aware of the presence and spirit of Lafcardio Hearn. Shimane prefecture is very tied in with Japanese mythology. So it’s not surprising that there is an affinity with the land of leprechauns and fairies.}

^{I learnt so much about Japan, its myths and its legends through his books, still popular today. In particular, I recommend his ’Glimpses of an unfamiliar Japan’. I also recommend the free Hearne walking map of Matsue.}

^{I travelled to Matsue last November (2024), visiting simply because Hearn wrote so lovingly of the Shimane area. He sparked my curiosity. I thought the city might be packed with foreign tourists. It wasn’t – just some Japanese and other Asian visitors, and a few other western tourists! A survey a few years ago showed that Shimane was one of the most least visited prefectures by tourists in Japan. I think of myself more as a traveller than a tourist, but I cannot understand why any visitor to Japan would not include Matsue on their itinerary.}

^{It’s a lovely and very walkable compact little city with attractive waterways, preserved samurai areas, interesting vistas, and the best sunset I have seen to date in Japan. Matsue also provides excellent services for visitors.}

^{The small, but very elegant Matsue Castle, completed in 1611, is one of only 12 remaining original castles in Japan. It is one of the country’s few largely intact 17th-century castles, and it has a magnificent bird’s eye view of the city. There’s a large park surrounding it, known for Jozan Inari Shrine’s fox statues. Across from the castle moat, Shiomi Nawate street is lined with Edo-period samurai residences. And some excellent shops!}

^{Reaching Matsue is an effort, as it’s well off the usual tourist track. You need to travel firstly to Okayama, and from there ride the Limited Express Yakumo that winds through central mountain regions of Honshu to Shimane prefecture. The train is new, introduced in early 2024 and the first new model on the very picturesque route in 42 years. It has replaced an old train that apparently rattled along with such a sway that passengers often became ill.}

^{I loved its nice big windows and roomy design. It even features special areas for wheelchair passengers.}

^{Matsue railway station is full of interesting cafes and other shops, and just outside is a tourist information office with english speaking staff. Within walking distance are a variety of hotels and very cool restaurants and nightclubs.}

^{Matsue also struck me as a great foodie destination. We had some excellent meals and tasty treats here.}

^{You can easily walk from this the Station area to Matsue’s gorgeous river and city centre. It’s only one kilometre to the east of beautiful Lake Shinji – the fourth largest lake in Japan – and two kilometres from Matsue Castle. But should you prefer to ride, there is an excellent tourist bus service with an all day hop on hop off ticket for under $6 Australian. It takes you to all the major Matsue sights.}

^{Number one on my list was to see Hearn’s home in his last five months in Matsue, as well as the adjoining Herne memorial museum that displays original handwritten scripts and more than 200 other items.He met his Japanese wife Koizumi Setsuko in Matsue. She was the daughter of a local Samurai. It happened that a special exhibition about her was being held when I was there. I couldn’t have timed my visit better if I had tried!}

^{I had previously read opinions that this was probably a marriage of convenience, arranged so that he could reside in Japan. Well, that opinion was so far off the mark. This was clearly a great love story, and a wonderful working partnership. Setsuko contributed greatly to his work, and I wonder if his books would have been so successful without her help.}

^{I was so glad I saw the exhibition as it totally changed my impression of Setsuko and their marriage. Their correspondence whenever they were apart were love letters.}

^{Setsuko was no quiet little fragile Japanese flower. Clearly, a very strong minded woman, and a good match in intelligence with Lafcardio. I can see why they would have been attracted to each other.}

^{Seksuko had been previously married, and her young husband had run off because apparently he couldn’t stand the poverty of the area. She hotly pursued him, crossing the country to ensure they got a proper divorce. Good on her! Remember – this is back in 1800’s Japan!}

^{She worked with Lafcardio on his books, translating for him and bringing him ancient folk lore stories. She also worked hard to maintain his legacy after his sudden death in Tokyo (EDO) at just 54 from a heart attack, and wrote a book herself about him.}

^{Lafcardio and Seksuko had four children together – three sons and a daughter – and a handsome, accomplished lot they were too. Their love of family comes through strongly in the exhibition. Hearne had a lonely and rather awful childhood, sent to an elderly aunt to be raised. So it’s easy to understand how much the family he raised with Seksuko would have been so important to him.}

^{Although his time in Matsue was fairly short, the city is proud that it was Lafcardio’s first home in Japan, and they celebrate every year with a St Patrick’s Day festival, featuring traditional Irish music and céili dancing. Of course, you will find an Irish pub there!}

^{The Hearn home looks out to one of the moats surrounding Matsue castle, and is preserved by the city for public viewing. Not a big home, but relaxing, with a calming spirit. His desk is still there, and it’s easy to imagine him sitting there, researching and writing his books.}

On the waterways

^{We explored the castle moat and other waterways around the castle by a tiny boat. The waterways are much as they were when first built, and they presented one of my most unusual experiences in Japan. The boats pass under many ancient and very low bridges – so their rooves have to be lowered so far that passengers end up lying flat on the bottom of the boats! A little claustrophobic , but tremendous fun. Our singing boatman would break out into song under some of the bridges that offered great acoustics.}

^{There is so much to explore in Matsue. On one walk, we came across an ancient temple at dusk – hundreds of years old. And we were the only visitors there, though we saw women who I presume were nuns there.}

^{Ambling along the riverside pathways, I temporarily ‘lost’ my hubby MJ. When I looked back down from a bridge, I spotted him in animated conversation with a young fisherman! Google translating, of course! He has been reliably told that the river has plenty of fish!}

^{On the day we visited the castle – with its eagle eye view over the city – preparations were underway for a concert featuring ancient songs and dance. We lucked in on the rehearsal! There was also an impressive chrysanthemum display by the castle walls.} 

^{There were so many things to see and do in Matsue – old samurai residences open to the public, excellent museums, and ancient temples. One of our highlights was lucking in on the famous Matsue sunset over Lake Shinji. It is in Japan’s list of one hundred best sunsets, and it did not fail us. There are many vantage points, but we chose the beautiful Shimane Art Museum – the hop on hop off bus delivers and picks up from here.}

^{Waiting for the sunset, we enjoyed a late afternoon tea in the Museum cafe. There was a small crowd of onlookers along the shoreline – nothing overwhelming as people spread out to watch from various view points. There also was a smattering of quite good buskers, adding to the happy and relaxed atmosphere.}

^{And then the sun went down – it was so incredibly beautiful, it lingers forever in my memory bank!}

^{Another Matsue must is to travel out about an hour from the city to view the award winning gardens at the Adachi Museum of Art. You take a local train to the town of Yasugi to join a free shuttle bus to get there. It’s quite different from any garden I have seen, as you mainly view it through large windows. No garden walks here! It’s worth a blog article in itself, and I’ll write that up soon!}

^{I only had three days in Matsue, enough to whet my appetite for more. I feel a strong need to return so that I can further explore the city and the prefecture of Shimane. It’s a place where I think I happily could spend a whole Japanese holiday.}