This post was written in 2006. Some information may be out of date.
Matsue is a place with a lot of history, even by Japanese standards. That’s because Izumo, the main stage of Japan’s founding myths, is right next door.
You could say it’s a bit like Gyeongju back in Korea.
The shrines I visited yesterday all enshrine gods who appear in those founding myths.
Yaegaki Shrine
The gods’ names were too long for me to remember… anyway, it enshrines a married couple of gods. It’s a shrine that specializes in love and matchmaking, so there were a LOT of women there.
A small garden inside Yaegaki Shrine
There’s a pond in here, and you tell your love fortune by floating a coin on it. Apparently the faster the coin sinks, the sooner you’ll meet the person you’ll marry,
so there was a steady stream of women of marrying age visiting.
The shrine’s tree
Japanese shrines sell fortune slips (omikuji) that tell your luck, good or bad. They range from Great Blessing to Great Curse. If you get a good one, you just take the slip home,
and if you get a bad one, you tie it to a tree like in the photo. People usually draw one at New Year to see how their year will go.
Japanese shrines have a very solid business model ^_^ They sell fortune slips, they sell charms… No wonder the tradition keeps going.
The Matsue countryside seen from the observation deck
Rice paddies and fields stretching out ^_^ The rice has ripened. Autumn is here.
This is the site of some old ruins.
A lot like Gyeongju, right? If you go next door to Izumo, there are far more cultural treasures. It’s the main stage of Japan’s ancient myths, after all.
The Matsue countryside
It was drizzling on and off.
The path up to Kamosu Shrine, a National Treasure…
Inside Kamosu Shrine
Kamosu Shrine itself turned out to be pretty ordinary. I couldn’t figure out why it’s a National Treasure. There must be some historical reason…
The way out of Kamosu Shrine
After leaving Kamosu Shrine…
No matter how I look at them, my photos aren’t landscape photos. And there isn’t enough information about the places to call them travel photos either.
That’s down to limits on time and my camera… unless I start going out purely to take photos, I don’t think the feel of them
is going to change much.