Location: Matsue
Top Things to do in Matsue
What to do and see in Matsue, Japan: The Best Places and Tips
Matsue (松江市, Matsue-shi) is the capital city of Shimane Prefecture located in Chūgoku region of the main island of Honshu. As of March, 2017, the city has an estimated population of 205,402, following its most recent merging with the town of Higashiizumo (from Yatsuka District).
Restaurants in Matsue
1. Matsue Vogel Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 133 reviews
Reviewed By ciramisu - Singapore, Singapore
Part indoor flower park that blooms all year round, part bird park. Foreigners get ~30% discount on ticket price, just show your passport. Admission becomes 1,080JPY, instead of 1,540JPY.
Park is located right outside Matsue Vogel Park Station, about 15-min ride on Ichibata Railways from Matsue Shinjiko-onsen Station.
After buying the ticket and entering the main area, you can see lots of bright, colorful flowers filling the area and hanging from the ceiling. You can walk the park in about an hour, just follow the marked path. There is a section where birds at an arms length away, walking and swimming right beside/in front of you, with no barriers.
Overall, enjoyed my visit to this place a lot more than I thought I would! I definitely recommend a visit. If you're visiting Matsue and Izumo Grand Shrine, you can visit the Vogel Park too, it's in between.
2. Matsue Castle
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1 reviews
Reviewed By thelonious22 - Seongnam
The difference is obvious with an original castle immediately upon entering as all the floors and frames are wooden as opposed to the sterile looking concrete interior of the rebuilt Castles. The six squeaky wooden floors had the usual castle display with some old armors and a miniature scale model of the town. The fourth level had photos of lot of other Japanese Castles on display including Kishiwada Castle from my home town for a year. The top floor provided a nice panoramic view of Matsue city. Along with many other attractions in Shimane Prefecture, the castle offered 50% off on admission for all foreign visitors in an effort to boost tourism in the seldom visited Shimane.
3. Yuushien Garden
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 171 reviews
Reviewed By coralbielby - Perth, Australia
What sight - have never seen anything like it. Peonies by the hundreds if not thousands - everywhere you look - Absolutely beautiful - colours galore some flowers larger than
dinner plates and to top it off there were squares of mesh covered with red and white
peonies floating down the continuous stream flowing around the Gardens. A really
spectacular sight
4. Miho Shrine
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 159 reviews
Reviewed By Brittany P - Matsue, Japan
I visited during the Morotabune festival (Dec. 3), an ancient custom with ties to the Kojiki (Shinto book of mythology). Fans of Ebisu, a mirthful god of fishing with distinctly Japanese origins, should make sure not to miss this shrine, as it is the head of all Ebisu shrines. Despite the busy festival atmosphere, it wasn't packed elbow-to-elbow, so I could still get a good view of the Kagura dance inside the shrine, and enjoy the market at the entrance at my own pace. The procession between the shrine and the festival events at the harbor were easy to see. Mostly locals take part, so I enjoyed the easy-going way of life they had there. Good for a very authentic experience off the beaten path.
5. Yaegaki Shrine
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 369 reviews
Reviewed By XxParisiennexX
This shrine is modest. One of great god (Susano o no mikoto. Husband) & goddes (Inada hime. Wife) are enshrined. Famous as "Sacred power spot" especially for Japanese young women, because of belief that a good match will be coming if they pray there.
If you buy a special paper at shrine shop and go float it on a small pond (called "Kagami no ike" meaning Mirror's pond) at backyard (less 5min.walk) with a coin (like 10 JPY coin) in center of paper top, it is believed that the sinking speed tells you how soon a good match will come to you.
Sinking around 2-3min in early case, sometime more than 15min...
Some advises from god can be seen when you float it on the water surface, which is totally in Japanese.
6. Shimane Art Museum
Overall Ratings
4 based on 217 reviews
Reviewed By Jeffrey F - Ilkeston, United Kingdom
I was heading back to the railway station on the hop-on/hop-off Matsue Lakeline Sightseeing bus when a photo of Shimane Prefectural Art Museum popped up on the bus ‘next stop’ screen. The modern building looked amazing; so I got off on a whim – risking missing my train. I’m so glad I did. Though there are some lovely sights in the town, this was right up there with the best.
The building is beautiful, both inside & out. The staff is very friendly & speak a little English. You can take photos inside, most places, & the views of Lake Shinji are wonderful. People gather on the beach alongside to watch the sunset over the water & enjoy the sculptures. Spectacular.
There is plenty of space, some excellent artworks (note the Rodin on the main platform) & a nice looking café with great views over the water (though I didn’t have time to sample their wares as I had to run for the bus). It’s a place to relax & spent time in & is very inexpensive, especially for foreigners who are only charged half-price. Well recommended.
7. Tamatsukuriyu Shrine
Overall Ratings
4 based on 179 reviews
Reviewed By Brittany P - Matsue, Japan
I would recommend going to this area first for the onsen and resort atmosphere, and then stopping by this shrine as a way of completeing your visit. It's very easy walking distance up the street from the major ryokan, and it has a "Wishing Stone" tradition that makes for a unique o-mamori. You purchase a small "Wish-granting" stone to place against the "Wishing" stone, and pour water over both of them together. You then write your wish on the paper provided and leave one copy at the shrine as you make your wish, and take the other copy with you in the decorative keepsake bag for your "Wish-granting" stone. Remember to buy the stone as soon as you enter the shrine (turn left at the bottom of the hill), but they might only be able to explain these instructions to you in Japanese.
8. Kamosu Shrine
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 118 reviews
Reviewed By Brittany P - Matsue, Japan
This is the oldest example of Taisha-tsukuri style shrine architecture in Japan, dedicated to the deity Izanami-no-Mikoto, a sort of mother-figure to the land of Japan. Tucked away on a hill outside of the city area, this is the kind of place to go to if you want a taste of the ancient roots of Shintoism rather than the tourist-filled, attraction-driven shrines. In addition to sake, they also serve rice to new years visitors. Located very close to Yakumo Tatsu Fudoki no Oka, a place that people who enjoy ancient history would appreciate. You can rent bikes to tour the area.
9. Matsue Castle Town
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 108 reviews
Reviewed By Shojin - Orange County
There are many things to see and do in the castle area walkway, including Bridges and moats, museums (the Tanabe Art Museum), the Meimei-an historic tea house and samurai residence (buke yashiki)
10. Former Yakumo Koizumi Residence
Overall Ratings
4 based on 131 reviews
Reviewed By Chuzaa - Vancouver, Canada
Near the Matsue Castle complex is a well-preserved district with samurai residences along the castle’s northern moat. One of them is made into a museum as it was once resided by Lafcadio Hearn (KOIZUMI Yakumo), a Greek-Irish American who worked in Matsue as an English teacher and also a prominent writer. He was one of the most important English writers in the early modern Japan who introduced Japan to the Western World in the late 19th century. One of his most famous works is “Kwaidan” which was the original of the famous 1965 movie by Masaki Kobayashi.
When he married in 1891 with Koizumi Setsu, a local Shinto family woman, they rented this former samurai residence for about ten months before leaving for Kumamoto for a new teaching position. He probably didn’t feel too comfortable in this typical Japanese house, but was known to have enjoyed atmosphere of the samurai Japan that came with the house.
This residence doesn’t have any detailed information about Hearn and his wife. It is available at the Koizumi Yakumo Kinenkan Museum (Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum) next door.
