Page 219 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide: Japan

WESTERN HONSHU  217

E Matsue Castle marriage – the latter explaining
@ Kencho-mae stop. Tel (0852)
21-4030. Open daily. & the popularity of the shrine for
wedding ceremonies. The
E Buke Yashiki entrance to the shrine, through
Tel (0852) 22-2243. & 11 torii (gates), is impressive.
E Meimei-an Teahouse Unusually tall, the Honden
Tel (0852) 21-9863. Open daily. & (Main Hall) is not open to the
public, although the Treasure
Lafcadio Hearn’s residence with its P Tanabe Art Museum House can be visited. The
well-tended garden, in Matsue Tel (0852) 26-2211. Open Tue–Sun. & shrine’s environs are sacred and
E Lafcadio Hearn Residence therefore ecologically pristine,
lagoon, Matsue is, not Tel (0852) 23-0714. Open daily. & with towering cryptomeria trees
surprisingly, also known as the E Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Hall surrounding the main com-
“water city.” Rarely included in Tel (0852) 21-2147. Open daily. & pound. Just east of the shrine
the itiner aries of foreign visitors, are a number of old houses
the area has several worthwhile occupied by priests who serve
cultural features. Matsue is p Izumo here. Note the traditional clay
referred to at length in Glimp ses Izumo and stone walls.
of Unfamiliar Japan (1894), by Just past the shrine, on
Lafcadio Hearn, a journal ist of Shimane prefecture. * 148,000. k Route 431 to Okuni, there is a
£ n at Taisha-mae stn; (0853)
Irish-Greek descent who spent 53-2298. _ Daisairei (May 14–16), monument to a nun who is said
15 months in the town. Kamiari Festival (11–17th days of 10th to have danced on the banks of
Hearn described Matsue lunar month). the Kamo River in Kyoto to raise
Castle in the colorful super- money for the shrine. The dance
latives that mark his style as “a Alive with myths, legends, and was developed into the Kabuki
veritable architectural dragon, tales of the supernatural, Izumo, theatrical form (see pp40–41).
made up of magnifi cent known until the 3rd century
monstrosities.” One of the as the “eightfold-towering-  Izumo Taisha Grand Shrine
few in Japan to remain intact, thunder head land,” has an Tel (0853) 53-3100. Open daily.
the castle was built in 1611 enthralling heritage. The town & (Treasure Hall).
of pine and stone, then is well known
partially reconstructed throughout Japan for
31 years later. Its five-story the Izumo Taisha
keep is Japan’s tallest. Grand Shrine, one
Within 5 minutes’ walk of the of the most revered
castle are two more modest and oldest Shinto
architectural gems. The Buke shrines in the country.
Yashiki is an interesting It is dedicated to
mansion built in 1730 by the Okuninushi-no-
Shiomi family, who were chief Mikoto, a deity who
retainers at the castle. is closely associated
Furniture and household items with agriculture and Izumo shrine, dominated by the distinctive rafters
provide an insight into their medicine, as well as of the Honden
life. Above Shiome Nawate
street is the Meimei-an Lafcadio Hearn
Teahouse (1779), one of
Japan’s oldest and best Lafcadio Hearn (1850–1904) arrived in Japan in 1890. He published
preserved. Along the same several books, many of which are still in print and widely read, such as
street is the Tanabe Art In Ghostly Japan, Japan: An Interpretation, and Glimpses of Unfamiliar
Museum, with a refined Japan. The Japanese continue to be fascinated by Hearn, whose
collection of tea bowls and books allowed them for the first time to view their
other tea-related objects. culture through the eyes of a foreigner. He was
Just north of the castle, the also one of the foremost interpreters of Japan
Lafcadio Hearn Residence is for the West. A bold and unconventional thinker
beautifully preserved. Its in his time, he was interested in the folklore and
immaculate garden inspired superstitions of Japan. Hearn’s first Japanese
one of Hearn’s most engaging home was Matsue, where he took up a
essays, In A Japanese Garden. teaching post, but quickly fell ill. The
Beside the house, the Lafcadio woman who nursed him back to health –
Hearn Memorial Hall has a the daughter of a local samurai family –
good collection of his memor- eventually became Hearn’s wife. He later
abilia, including such items as Writer and journalist acquired Japanese citizenship, changing
manuscripts, photos, and his Lafcadio Hearn his name to Koizumi Yakumo.
desk and smoking pipes.

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