Matsue Attractions

Matsue, chief town of the prefecture of Shimane and the largest city in the historical region of San-in, lies near the northwest coast of Honshu on the River Ohashi, which links Lake Shinji to the west with the Nako-no-umi Lagoon to the east. The town became known through the work of the English writer Lafcadio Hearn, who lived here at the end of the 19th C and who helped by his writing to make Japan and Japanese culture better known to the Western World.

To the north of the town, on the Shimane Peninsula, is a hilly coastal region which forms part of the Daisen-Oki National Park. Also included in the National Park are the Oki Islands lying between 25 and 50mi off the coast, the volcanic region around Mount Daisen to the southeast and the Izumo Peninsula to the southwest, with the Izumo-Taisha Shrine.

History

The fief of Matsue was granted to Horido Yoshiharu by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1600 for his services in the Battle of Sekigahara, and Horio completed the building of the castle in 1611, shortly before his death. Under later rulers of the Kyogoku dynasty and of the Matsudaira, who ruled the town for 234 years, Matsue enjoyed a period of some prosperity.

Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904) came to Matsue in May 1890 and taught for seven months in the secondary school. Having married a Japanese wife and been adopted by his parents-in-law, who gave him the name of Koizumi Yakumo, he was accepted by Japanese society. His "Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan" gives an account of his impressions.