【島根旅行】出雲大社・足立美術館・松江城を巡る旅｜Jabble船橋校講師Angieの旅行記

Hi everyone! It’s Angie from Jabble Funabashi Eikaiwa (船橋の英会話スクール).

When I first moved to Japan, I made a promise to myself to visit all 47 prefectures. At the time, I lived in Kumamoto, so it only seemed natural to start with the neighboring prefectures and make my way up the country. Somehow, I managed to visit the whole of Kyushu during the first year. When I decided to move to Chiba to teach at our English school in Funabashi, the next prefecture on my list was Shimane. It is, of course, significantly more difficult (and expensive!) to visit Chugoku now that I live in Kanto. Since then, I’ve been focusing more of my attention on exploring Kanto but Shimane was always on my mind when I made travel plans. This Golden Week, I can finally check “The Land of the Gods” off my list!

Considering I’ve been thinking about visiting Shimane for about four years, I had an itinerary worked up before I ever booked my tickets. Shimane Prefecture is most known for “Izumo Taisha” and its associated shrines and traditions, so it was my first stop after landing at Izumo Airport. I must admit, I did have second thoughts when I discovered all the coin lockers were occupied due to all the tourists who had the same idea as me! That being said, nothing could dampen my mood when I finally set my eyes on one of the oldest shrines in Japan.

I was in awe of the absolute presence and authority the shrine possesses. It’s not hard to imagine it hosting all the visiting deities in Japan. I was pleasantly surprised to see rabbit statues sprinkled about the shrine grounds; they provided a bit of levity to the grandeur of it all. To finish off the visit, I walked to Bentenjima to enjoy the ocean breeze. There was something very poignant about the small shrine sitting atop a boulder on the beach. 

That night, I tried Shimane’s iconic soba. Izumo Soba stands out from your standard noodles with its more earthy aroma and flavors. The serving style is also a bit different as you do not dip the cold noodles like you would with other soba. I have to admit, I had to look up the procedure so as to not accidentally offend the proprietors. Either way, it was the perfect way to end the busy day.

The next day, I decided to visit the most beautiful garden in Japan. The Adachi Museum of Art is home to a large collection of modern Japanese paintings from Yokoyama Taikan but is most known for its beautiful Japanese gardens. It’s been ranked #1 for over 20 consecutive years! I’m not particularly knowledgeable about gardens by any means but even I could see the incredible amount of care that went into curating the grounds. Each angle of the garden felt unreal in its perfection. I visited in May but the garden is said to be gorgeous in all seasons. 

Last but not least, I visited Matsue Castle! As some of Funabashi’s students might know, I love Japanese castles so I always make it a point to visit the local castles whenever I travel. I was really excited to discover that Matsue Castle is one of the oldest surviving castles in Japan. It was designated as a National Treasure in 2015 after the discovery of talismans proving it was completed in 1611. The castle itself is very different from other castles I’ve been to; the keep’s dark waterproof cladding and more practical construction feel more austere. The castle retains the original wooden structure so the stairs inside were also frighteningly steep. It was all worth it in order to enjoy my last sunset in Shimane, wrapping up a trip four years in the making. 

Twenty-five prefectures down, twenty-two more to go! How many prefectures have you been to?

【スタッフによる要約】

Jabble船橋校の講師Angieが、4年間楽しみにしていた島根県への旅行をご紹介。出雲大社や足立美術館、松江城などの名所を巡り、日本の歴史や文化を満喫した旅の様子をお届けします。旅行好きな方にもおすすめのブログです。