Izumo Taisha & Matsue / SHIMANE

Date:          3 Aug 2011
Stay:          Matsue New Urban Hotel

　　　           40-1, NISHICHA-MACHI, MATSUE-SHI, SHIMANE 

                  TEL: 852-23-0003

Access:      JR Sunrise Express(sleeper train) from Tokyo Station to Izumo.  
                  Use Ichibata Densya(one-day free pass) from Izumo to Izumo-Taisha and Izumo-   
                  taisha to Matsue.   

Sunrise Express is Japanese night train departs from Tokyo station to Izumo sation.  Japanese night train is quite expensive and many uses for special occasions like a anniversary and long vacation. One of the hard tickets to get. 

I booked B single compartment. All you can get are see in pictures below. Don't expect much, but bring six-pack and snacks will do. It takes 12hours from Tokyo to Izumo. Try to book left side upper compartment from Tokyo which runs pacific ocean side on Tokaido line. 


                       

This is Izumo-station. Izumo-station is not the final destination. Izumo-Taisha is. Two way to go to Izumo-Taisha from Izumo-station, one is using local bus, and other is using Ichibata-Densya. Both starts from Izumo-station. 

I got Izumo-Taisha with Ichibata-Densya, using Ichibata-Densya one day free-pass. Since my final destination was Matsue, this pass was very reasonable for me to enjoy Izumo-Matsue area.

              

Izumo Taisha is Japan's oldest shrine and considered second important shrine after Ise Jingu, and also known for holy place somebody who is looking for love and happiness in marriage. You see many singles pray desperate for hope. (I was one of them!)

This straw object is ritual article for Shinto called Shime-Nawa. Some people believe once you successfully stick coin into this Shime-nawa, all the wishs will come true.

Ichibata Izumo-Taisha station.
Very compact but nice atmosphere.

It took about an hour from Izumo-taisha to Matsue. View from Ichibata-train was very relaxing
and have a chance to take the view of Shinjiko and Nakaumi which has been designated as Ramsar site in 2005. Shinjiko is the seventh largest lake in Japan and famous for Shijimi (fresh-water calm) that visitors are able to enjoy at local restaurant in Matsue.

Matsue castle located in the center of Matsue near from Shimane prefectural government. This castle is very valuable in terms of remaining in original wooden form. Top floor of the Matsue castle offering panoramic views of the city and Shinjiko.

I stayed over Matsue New Urban Hotel. It was very reasonable but little far from Matsue Station and downtown area, not walking distance. This hotel offers rental bicycles, but there were less than 5, so I recommend to book it in advance.