Shimane Prefecture

Last August, I set out on another trip by myself across Japan. I had intended to write a blog about my entire trip, but it ended up being so long that I never had a chance to finish writing it. On that trip, there was one area in particular that I visited that I’d really like to share. What I’ve decided to do is write a blog focusing on that one area. I don’t think that there were too many people who were anxious to read that long blog post about my entire trip, but if you’d really like to know about any other areas I visited, don’t hesitate to ask! 

On that trip, I was fortunate to be able to visit Shimane prefecture, which is the area I’d like to share with you. It’s an area that I’d like it if all Japanese people could visit at least once in their life. It’s an area in Japan that I believe embodies a part of the “real Japan.” I’d also like to share with you a foreigner who lived in Shimane prefecture in the Meji period (1868-1912), 小泉八雲 (koizumi yakumo). Kozumi Yakumo is probably the most well-known foreigner who has ever lived in Japan, so well in fact that he’s apparently mentioned in textbooks used in schools across Japan.

Hundreds, if not thousands of foreigners live in Japan. As you may or may not know, the Japanese population has been on a decline in the past number of years. With this decline comes more elderly Japanese people and less Japanese people in the workforce. With this comes the Japanese governments not so great plan at trying to combat the shortage of Japanese people in the workforce by bringing in larger numbers of foreigners and getting them to work jobs with shortages of staff. Over my time in Japan, I’ve found myself in situations where I’ve been inconvenienced by those foreign workers whose Japanese is terrible and aren’t able to communicate properly. Despite that fact that the Japanese government is going on about “how important these foreign workers are,” I don’t feel that we need them at all. Take a look at those foreign exchange students who have part-time jobs (at least 90% of whom I’d guess are from other countries in Asia), they don’t greet customers with the same level of courtesy as Japanese workers do, and (as I mentioned above) their Japanese isn’t very good and use many words/phrases that are odd, unnatural, and most certainly words/phrases that a Japanese person wouldn’t use, making me feel discomforted. I too am a foreigner living in Japan so it might not be my place to be upset about the sudden increase of foreigners. However, I’m a Japanophile, and because of this I continue to take the time to study Japanese, I work hard to learn about the lifestyle of Japanese, learn about what their religious beliefs are, learn about how they think, how they act and so on. I wish other foreigners who live in Japan would adopt the same attitude. For those not in Japan, I’m sure it may be hard to believe, but the numbers of foreigners who come to Japan is now way too high. Japanese scenery, the way in which Japanese people conduct themselves, the Japanese way of thinking, the simple way in which Japanese people used to live, all the various aspects that make Japan the country that it is, all the various aspects that I love about Japan, before all of these aspects disappear completely the internationalizing of Japan that’s taking place should be stopped. Japan shouldn’t be a country (as it is for many foreigners) just for them to work and earn money in. In particular, the foreigners with this idea of coming to Japan to simply earn money should be reduced, and I know it may seem like a joke, but before Japan becomes overrun with poor people from other countries who come seeking money the numbers of foreigners need to be reduced. Many of you may think that the fears I have about Japan are silly and that I shouldn’t worry as much as I do. I’m not the only Japanophile in the world and am not the only one who has ever expressed concerns about Japan’s future. Back in the Meiji period, a time when Japan was going through the Meiji restoration and rapidly modernizing was a man of Greek origin who expressed his own concerns about this modernization. That Greek man was (as I briefly mentioned above) Patrick Lafcadio Hearn, or as you might know him better: 小泉八雲 (koizumi yakumo). Patrick Lafcadio Hearn is a man known for the books that he wrote about Japanese culture and about his own take on the experiences that he had in the land of the rising sun. Through his books, you get a sense of how much he loved Japan, and about how he’d like the areas of Japan that he very much loved to remain untouched.

It was in 2017 when on a one-man trip across Japan I stopped in Kumamoto prefecture. When in Kumamoto I stopped by the ‘Former Lafcadio Hearn Kumamoto Residence.’ It was there for the first time that I learned about the feelings Lafcadio Hearn had towards the modernization of Japan. Seeing as his feelings were quite similar to those that I have about all of the foreigners who now live in Japan, I became fascinated with Hearn. Because of this, I knew I’d like to learn more about who he was, I knew I’d like to visit the city of Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, a city in where Hearn taught English for roughly a year while traveling across Japan, writing books about his experiences, and learning more about the country that he loved dearly. The city of Matsue was a place that I knew I just had to visit, so last August I set out on another trip across Japan to visit this city. I again used the 青春18きっぷ (Seishun 18 kippu), a ticket that gives you unlimited access to all Japan Rail trains across Japan for 5 days, excluding bullet trains and other rapid express trains. This ticket is designed for younger people (such as college students) who don’t have much money but who’d like to travel. This ticket can only be purchased in the spring, summer, and at the new year. To get the most out of it be sure to plan your route ahead and catch the first train in the morning. Using this ticket can be a lot more tiring than other means of transport, but you get a really good bang for your buck (so to speak) and because you’re riding the local train lines get to see parts of Japan that you wouldn’t normally get to see. It’s a ticket that I recommend (particularly) for those that will study as an exchange student in Japan and want to travel without spending too much money. 

On day 2 of my trip, after riding the first train in the morning, finally made it to Shimane prefecture. After changing trains, I headed for the city of Izumo, Shimane prefecture. I was headed for 出雲大社 (isumo taisha) or Izumo shrine, one shrine that Koizumi Yakumo loved, and is known for being the oldest Shinto shrine in Japan. Still today, it's not exactly known when this shrine was built.

 The city of Izumo is known for its soba noodles, noodles that are made from buckwheat flour. The type of soba noodles served here are referred to as Izumo soba, and there are a number of restaurants around Izumo shrine that serve it. I decided to go to one soba restaurant that was close to the shrine itself, but I'm sure all of the soba restaurants in the area all serve delicious soba!

This isn't 出雲割子そば (izumo wariko soba), several small plates of soba that each contain a different topping. That style is probably the most well know of all the soba dishes served in the city of Izumo, but when I saw this dish on the menu that seemed to be a specially made dish at this particular restaurant, I knew I had to try it.

Each Buddhist temple and Shinto shrine in Japan is built worshiping gods, goddesses, famous warlords, emperors, or around some sort of ideal or belief. Izumo shrine itself is built around matching making, helping to bring couples together who visit it.

There are two of these statues in the grounds of Izumo shrine itself and one inside Izumo station. This is the statue of 大国主大神 (ookuninushi omikami), originally believed to be the ruler of the Izumo Province. Izumo shrine itself was apparently said to be built as his home.

As I mentioned above, Izumo shrine is centered around matching making. If those of you who are in a relationship with someone or those who've just married visit, then I'm sure there's a chance that you'll get along even better with your partner. As far as I'm aware, Koizumi Yakumo visited Izumo shrine just after he got married.

This is what we in Japanese call a 注連縄 (shimenawa), "they are lengths of laid rice straw or hemp rope used for ritual purification in the Shinto religion. They can vary in diameter from a few centimeters to several meters, and are often seen festooned with shide. A space bound by shimenawa often indicates a sacred or pure space, such as that of a Shinto shrine." (From Wikipedia.) The shimenawa at Izumo shrine is (unlike ones at other shrines) hung backward. This is believed to be done so that the gods and goddess won't be able to escape from the shrine itself.

After paying a visit to and praying at the main building, known in Japanese as the 本堂 (hondo), I took a stroll around the back. Amongst the trees were a number of buildings that looked all so similar to the hondo. Upon reading a number of the explanations that were written next to the buildings, it seems as if almost all of the buildings here are dedicated to a different deity. In Japan, there are more gods and goddess than I can count, there must be thousands!

Attached to these trees are 御神籤 (omikuji) or fortunes. It's custom to take fortunes that contain unfavorable words hinting at bad luck and fold it into a "strip of paper and attach it to a pine tree or a wall of metal wires alongside other bad fortunes in the temple or shrine grounds. A purported reason for this custom is a pun on the word for pine tree (松 matsu) and the verb 'to wait' (待つ matsu), the idea being that the bad luck will wait by the tree rather than attach itself to the bearer." (From Wikipedia.)

This is something I hadn't noticed before, rabbit statues. There were a whole number of them around the backside of the hondo, and at a smaller shrine near the entrance. In Japanese, 兎 (usagi) means rabbit. The character for a rabbit is similar to this character for 免れる (manugareru), meaning to escape or avoid something. Because of this, rabbits are said to ward of bad luck and misfortune.

Even for those Japanese people who've never been to Izumo shrine before, this is one building I'm sure most have seen before in a school textbook. It's said that on the 10th month of each year, in October, all of the god and goddesses from across Japan gather inside this very building. If I remember correctly, these gods and goddesses conduct some sort of meeting. I'm not sure why the meeting is held here, but for those unfamiliar with temples and shrines in Japan, Izumo shrine ranks among the most well-known and most well-revered, as it's said to be (as I mentioned above) the oldest Shinto shrine in Japan.

This is the 御朱印 (goshuin), a type of stamp/seal received at temples and shrines across Japan, from Izumo shrine. You collect these stamps/seals in a particular book with no spine that's referred to as a 御朱印帳 (goshuincho). I collect goshuin, having made my way through two goshuincho and am currently collecting on my third one. The goshuin here at Izumo shrine is a lot simpler than others I've received before.

Another one of the statues of okuninushi omikami.

While having a look at a map of the surrounding area just outside of Izumo shrine, I couldn't help but noticed a marker for the 口紅地蔵 (kuchibeni jizo) or the lipstick jizo. The jizo are statues that you'll find all across Japan are Guardian Deity of travelers and children. This one was apparently owned by a 芸妓 (geiko), or as you might know it a 芸者 (geisha) back in the Edo period. This particular geiko decided to smear lipstick on the mouth of the jizo as a sort of good luck charm in helping to attract more customers. Apparently, the spreading of lipstick worked and she was able to attract more customers! Seeing the success that this geiko had, other geiko followed in suit, smearing lipstick onto jizo. In Japan, a 招き猫 (manekineko) or a figure of a beckoning cat, is often placed outside of stores to help increase profits or attract customers. This is the first time I'd ever heard of a jizo being used for the same purpose. Unique!

This is one of Shimane Prefecture's mascot characters, Shimaneko!

Shimaneko was also on the train that I rode on the way back to the station!

One more statue of okuninushi omikami inside of Shimane station.

On this particular night for dinner, I ate at a family restaurant known as Joyfull. Family restaurants are cheap, offering a wide selection of food, and (for a fee) you can enjoy as many (non-alcoholic) beverages as you like. There's no set time limit for how long you can spend at these family restaurants, so you'll often find people inside them chatting with others, students doing homework, and businessmen finishing up work. Joyfull (with the exception of a handful of locations) is only found in the southern part of Japan. When I saw the sign for this restaurant through the window of the train I was riding, I knew that I had to stop by there and grab a bite to eat. I can't remember exactly what I ordered, but I believe it was a set meal of カツレツ (katsuretsu), a deep-fried bread cutlet of meat, along with some rice, miso soup, and some pickled vegetables.

The morning on the 3rd day of my trip.

This is a manhole cover featuring the city of Matsue, Shimane prefecture on it. On this day I was to sightsee in the city of Matsue and finally get to view the city that Koizumi Yakumo loved.

These family restaurants are sometimes open 24 hours a day, but most will tend to open early in the morning and shut late at night. Because of this, it's not just lunch and dinner, but you can also grab a cheap breakfast at these places, and that's exactly what I decided to do on my 3rd day.

Not bad for just under (if I remember correctly) ¥500! I've got some miso soup, a bowl of rice, a half boiled egg, and some pickled vegetables. Yum!

I saw this at a store selling souvenirs, 'Matsue Beer Hearn'. This is a type of craft beer made in the city of Matsue with Koizumi Yakumo's face upon it! I had planned to go back in the evening to buy a can a try one, but for one reason or another didn't. I'm really regretting not getting to try one seeing as I'm a fan of Koizumi Yakumo and also lover beer. Next time!

As with many cities in Japan, you can buy a 1-day bus pass for a bus that will do a loop around the most notable sights. Matsue, Shimane prefecture is one of those cities that has these busses and passes, so I bought one and hopped on a bus. Seeing as Koizumi Yakumo is one of my heroes, I was super excited to finally be able to visit the city of Matsue!

The bus I rode had a retro atmosphere to it, it felt like I'd slipped back in time when I got on. What snapped me back to reality was a T.V. screen that was placed in the front. It was great, it showed various images of Matsue that corresponded with commentary, so it was a great way to get to know a little about the city before hopping off at my destination. What they're showing here is the first sightseeing guidebook for Matsue that was published back in 1956.

That's Koizumi Yakumo!

A statue of Koizumi Yakumo outside of the Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum.

First on my list of places to visit in the city of Matsue was the 'Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum.' Unfortunately, no photos are allowed to be taken on the inside, so the next two photos of the exterior were the only two that I took of this museum.

After spending quite some time in the memorial museum learning about the life of Koizumi Yakumo and seeing a number of his possessions, I went next door and visited the 'Koizumi Yakumo Former Residence.' Here, you can take as many photos as you like, so I was super excited to see Koizumi Yakumo's home, and what was originally the residence of a 武士 (bushi), or as you might know them 侍 (samurai). I took more photos here than I've (probably) ever taken in my entire life!

For those unfamiliar, Koizumi Yakumo had an accident in school where he lost the vision in his left eye. As I'm sure you can gather, Koizumi Yakumo had very poor eyesight. Despite having a poor vision, he apparently didn't wear glasses or do anything else that might help to improve his vision. I didn't take a very good photo so it's difficult to get a sense of the scale, but Koizumi Yakumo had this table specially built so that his face was close, almost rubbing up against it when sitting down reading and or writing various documents. The table here is a replica, but you can see the one he actually used at the 'Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum.' Despite how much Koizumi Yakumo loved Japan and went on and on about how great the older aspects of Japan were, I was surprised to find out that he used a western style table and chair rather than a ちゃぶ台 (chabudai), a dining table that sits low to the ground. 

This is a shell that Koizumi Yakumo bought in 江ノ島 (enoshima), in the city of Fujisawa, Kanagawa prefecture. He apparently used this shell when calling out to his family. It doesn't quite look like it based upon this photo, but the shell itself is quite big!

In many traditional Japanese homes, there's what's known as a 縁側 (engawa), an external corridor with a boarded floor, and usually with sliding glass doors, running along the outside of the house. For those of us from the west, we might simply call the engawa a veranda. This is a view from the engawa at the 'Koizumi Yakumo Former Residence' looking out on to the 日本庭園 (nihon teien) or Japanese garden. I'd heard about this garden before, but had no idea that it was nearly this big! At some point in my life, I'd love to buy a traditional Japanese house with a garden, even if it's a small garden, and build a traditional Japanese garden such as this one in it. There is a simple (and soothing) pleasure you get from looking out on to these styles of gardens. I happened to find myself deeply moved by the beauty of them. Unfortunately, it's in Japanese, but you can see this garden in a 1980's drama 'Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan', a drama that aired on NHK that was based upon a book (of the same name) that Koizumi Yakumo had written about Japan.

A picture of Koizumi Yakumo hanging on one of the walls.

In a large portion of the city of Matsue, there is lots of scenery that doesn't look as if it has changed in hundreds of years. I find that the culture of Japan up until WWII interests me more than the modern Japanese culture such as comic books, cartoons, video games, and so on. I'd love to buy a traditional Japanese home in an area such as this and study a number of aspects of Japan in more detail.

On this day I ate lunch at the 'Matsue Horikawa Beer Hall'. I ate a 丼物 (donmono), a bowl of rice topped with food. If I remember correctly, this donmono was topped with beef. I also order a small set that let me try three beers that were brewed in the city of Matsue. There's delicious alcohol all across the land of the rising sun! Yum! 🍺

At the 'Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum' I was able to pick up a 'Hearn's city of Matsue Walking Map.' This map includes a number of (if not all) places across the city of Matsue that has some sort of connection with Koizumi Yakumo, including places he enjoyed visiting, places he worked at, and places he stayed. After lunch, I used this map and walked around Matsue. There's a surprisingly large number of locations written on this map, some of which are quite a ways away from one another, so I wasn't able to visit every single spot on the map. I know that I'll come back to Matsue again, so I'll visit the spots I didn't get to at that time. At each of these spots is a sign posted that gives information about the spot itself and what correlation it had to Koizumi Yakumo.

The first spot I visited was 'Jozan Inari' shrine.

Koizumi Yakumo was apparently fascinated with the fox statue here, which is the statue in the background of this photo.

Next on the list of places I visited was 'Gessho temple.' If I remember correctly, this temple cost ¥500 yen to enter.

Gessho temple is "the family temple of the Matsudaira clan, lords of Matsue Domain. This is the final resting place of nine generations of lords who ruled over Izumo and Oki for a little over 200 years. The tenth and final Lord of Matsue moved to Edo (Tokyo) after the Meiji Restoration of 1868 and was buried there." (From this website.)

You often see 仁王 (nio)statues outside of Buddhist temples in Japan. "Niō (仁王) or Kongōrikishi (金剛力士) are two wrathful and muscular guardians of the Buddha standing today at the entrance of many Buddhist temples in East Asian Buddhism in the form of frightening wrestler-like statues. They are dharmapala manifestations of the bodhisattva Vajrapāṇi, the oldest and most powerful of the Mahayana Buddhist pantheon." (From Wikipedia.) I've seen many of these statues at temples before, but this was my first time seeing them as a wooding carving. Absolutely beautiful!

Even if you've never visited the city of Matsue, Shimane prefecture before there's a chance that you've seen this tortoise before. Unfortunately, I had trouble finding detailed information in English about it, but it's said that this statue used to come to life at night and eat people. As you can imagine, this needed to be stopped. To stop this giant tortoise, this large gravestone with names of those from those in the Matsudaira clan who had passed away engraved on it was placed on top. It might not seem like a true story, but when you see this big and somewhat frightening tortoise in person you start to believe that story. In Japan, the "tortoise is a symbol of longevity. It is said that if you rub its head, you can live a long life!" (From this site.)

There are many beautiful manhole covers across Japan, so whenever I see one such as this with a picture engraved on it I can't help to stop and take a photo.

Next, I went to Daio temple. I couldn't find any information in English, but this temple is where the story 'The Women who buys Candy' took place. As the story goes, there was a woman dressed completely in white (the sign of death in Japan) who went to a candy store one evening. Her hair was a mess and the owner of the candy store thought there was something odd about this women, but he let it go and sold her some candy. The women visited again the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that. This continued for seven nights. On the seventh night, the women said that she had no more money, but would be willing to trade her 羽織 (haori), a type of Japanese half-coat, for some candy. The women looked pitiful so the owner agreed to the trade. Later, a wealthy man happened to pass by the store and notice the haori. Upon entering the store, he told the owner that the haori had belonged to his daughter who had passed away a few days earlier and that the haori had been placed inside her coffin. After being told by the owner of the store what had happened, they both went to the grave of his daughter. Upon arrival, they heard the sound of a baby crying from the grave. They dug up the grave, only to find the wealthy man's daughter holding a newborn baby boy in one hand, and the candy that was purchased in the other. The wealthy man had buried his daughter in the last month of her pregnancy but had mistaken that the baby had died too. The wealthy man said that he'd look after his daughter's child. The graveyard here is where (I presume) the grave of the wealthy man's daughter was (and or) still is. Spooky!

This is a statue of 耳なし芳一 (miminashi hoichi) or Hoichi the Earless.

Near the statue of Hoichi the Earless was this sign about the city of Matsue made from (what appears to be) bronze. It'd been rusted in the rain, so it was too difficult to read.

The next spot I visited was the former site of the Shimane prefectural middle school and prefectural office. Koizumi Yakumo came to Japan working for a newspaper but had disputes with the company he worked for and shortly after started looking for a job in Japan. Teaching English at the middle school that once stood here was the first job Yakumo attained.

This site is now home to a police station.

After that, I made my way to the former site of the "Tomitaya Inn", a 旅館 (ryokan) or Japanese inn. Now (as far as I'm aware) a completely different Japanese inn sits in its place. The Tomitaya inn was where Koizumi Yakumo spent his first night in Matsue.

After that, I made my way to Fumonin temple. What's slightly more famous than this temple itself is the 小豆とぎ橋 (azuki togi bashi) or Azuki Togi bridge nearby. As the story goes, "in Matsue there was a ban on singing on the Azuki-bashi bridge, located in front of Fumon-in temple (north-east of the castle). People respected the ban, for fear of invoking the wrath of a woman said to haunt the bridge. Yet, one evening, a samurai dared to brave the forbidden. When nothing seemed to happen, he laughed heartily and returned home, where a maid was waiting for him on the doorstep. Approaching her, she handed him a box that she said was a gift from her mistress. Opening it, the samurai made a macabre discovery: a severed head! Inside the house, lay the body of his child... headless." (From this site.)

The last spot I visited was 'Kodomo-no-Inari-Jinja shrine.' Koizumi Yakumo often visited this shrine because he "was fascinated by the prayers pinned by mothers on the side of the shrine." (From this site.)

For dinner, I had planned to eat a local dish known as Matsue おどん (odon). Odon is a dish that combines おでん (oden), a dish consisting of slices of boiled daikon (a white Japanese radish), cakes of konnyaku (an eggplant yam), small chikwa (a kind of fish paste that shaped into a tubular form and grilled), hard-boiled eggs, balls of processed mince fish, and so on, along with udon noodles, noodles that are made from wheat flour, salt, and water. Unfortunately, the restaurant that I went to had stopped serving the dish, so I once again ate some soba noodles that are well known in the last city I visited, Izumo.

I'm a Japanophile, so I love to travel across Japan and (am sure) will continue to travel more in the future. If you have any recommendations for places that are worth visiting in Japan, I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know!