From Taisha to Hinomisaki

 

The day after the Summer Solstice, and my route now hugs the convoluted coastline up to Hinomisaki.

Hinomisaki is the western cape of the Shimane Peninsula, with Mihonoseki being the eastern cape.

!0,000 years ago the Shimane Peninsula was an island. In Izumo mythology it was formed from the land of three distant countries that were pulled here and attached to Izumo by two giant ropes. Hinomisaki is held to the mainland by the "rope" of the beach that runs from Izumo Taisha to Tagi.

A lot of water still lies between the mainland of Izumo and the Shimane Peninsula, including Lake Shinji and  the Nakaumi lagoon. In  historical times the land between Izumo and Taisha was marshland that has since been reclaimed.

There are no settlements and only a few, scattered habitations along the road from Taisha up to the cape.

The final photo in the post shows an abandoned hotel up near the cape. Probably built in the tourism boom of the 1960's. I have yet to explore it.

The two previous photos to that final one  show a small inlet with a traditional Japanese ryokan.

Very popular with fishermen.....

The previous post in this series on my walk along the Japan Sea Coast was on Taisha Fishing Port.

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Kanden-an. Samurai Villa with Teahouse, Bathhouse, & Garden designed by a Warlord

 

Kanden-an was the country retreat for the Arisawa family, the chief  retainers of the Matsudaira who controlled Matsue Domain from the nearby castle.

Open to the public on weekends for part of the year, it is not on most tourists' radar, but is a National Historic Site, a National Scenic Site, and an Important Cultural Property.

Located a couple of kilometers from the castle, the way to the villa is along a footpath through the woods until you reach the original gate that would have been used by guests.

It is no longer in use and so visitors now follow the scenic main path up to the villa.

The land was given to the Arisawa by Matsudaira Naomasa, the first Matsudaira Lord of the Matsue Domain.

The 5th head of the Arisawa taught tea ceremony to Matsudaira Fumai when he was a child. Fumai became a great Tea Master and is why Matsue is one of the three main tea ceremony centres in Japan.

The 6th head of the Arisawa, Kazuyoshi, was taught tea ceremony by Fumai and was a great favourite of Fumai.

Meimei-an, another teahouse in Matsue worth visiting was built by Fumai for Kazuyoshi in the Arisawa main residence near the castle.

The teahouse, bathhouse, and garden here at Kanden-an are said to have been designed by Fumai.

Visitors now arrive first at the main villa, built in 1792. If you choose to have tea on your visit, this is where you will have it, looking out over the simple garden and down towards the castle.

The stonework of the paths are very striking, although the garden itself is simply rows of pruned bushes.

Many of the gardens in the Matsue and Izumo area were designed by Fumai's head garden designer, Sawa Gentan, and he is responsible for the Izumo Style Garden. However, it seems he was not involved here, and the garden was designed by Fumai.

Adjacent to the main house is the thatched teahouse, also built in 1792. Unfortunately, it cannot be entered.

From the teahouse, a path leads up to the bathhouse.

Originally, this is where the path for guests would arrive, and the bathhouse was a waiting area for guests before going to the teahouse.

Wating areas for guests to a tea ceremony are quite common, but I don't remember seeing a bathhouse before.

This is not the kind of bathhouse with a tub; rather, it is often called a sauna.

I went to one of these on a visit to Beppu, with a low entrance, dark inside, and a few centimeters of hot water. I was told that such types of bathhouse used to be fairly common.

From the bathhouse visitors head back down to the teahouse and then through a gate to the main villa, in much the same way as visitors would originally.

Though only a few kilometers from the castle, it is said that Fumai used to enjoy his time here.

Kanden-an is still owned by the Arisawa Family.

Other teahouses with gardens near Matsue Castle include the aforementioned Meimei-an, and also the Kangetsu-an

The previous post in this series on Matsue was on the exciting modern architecture of the Kunibiki Messe Conference Centre.

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Tonomachi Street Tsuwano Samurai Quarter

 

Koi swimming in small canals along the street are an icon of Tsuwano, a small castle town in the mountains of Shimane.

In the previous post we looked at Tonomachi Street, the main street of the town that is part of an Historic Preservation District.

That post looked at the merchant section of the street, but in this post we will look at the samurai section of the street, closer to the castle.

Fewer of the buildings remain in this section, but plenty of walls and gates remain.

One of the remaining building is the Yorokan, the domaoin school for samurai. Running alonside it is the main canal filled with koi.

It was founded in 1786 by the 8th Lord, and closed in 1872.

Mori Ogai, the famous author born in Tsuwano, studied here.

It used to hold a huge collection of artifacts relating to local history and folklore, as seen above, but has been renovated back to its original condition, as seen below.

While some space was for book learning and lectures, most of the spaces were used for various weapons training.

There are a lot of large storehouses in the immediate vicinity.

One of the first group of buildings inside the samurai quarter, opposite the Catholic church, has been converted into a restaurant, coffe shop and tearooms, and souvenir shop called Saronoki, well worth visiting for its garden.

The previous post in this series on Tsuwano was on the other section of the old street, the merchant quarter.

if you would like to subscribe by email, just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published or made public. I post new content almost every day, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the most recent posts.