Matsue, Japan Summary

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.