Solo Trip Number 2: Shimane-ken! Part 1

In my quest to travel and see as much of Japan as possible before I head back to America to begin "real life," I've been traveling a lot; some of those trips have included solo trips taken with the intention of forcing myself to sketch more.

This last one, one of those solo trips, was to the Shimane prefecture. It's juxtaposed with 4 prefectures on its right - Tottori, Okayama, Hiroshima, and Yamaguchi - and surrounded on the other side by the sea that sits between Japan and the rest of Asia, whatever it happens to be named (:

I got there via overnight bus from the Tenjin Bus Center to Matsue Station, one of the main hubs in the northern part of Shimane.

8800 Yen for a one way ticket leaves 9:50PM daily and arrives the next morning at 6:50AM for a total of 9 hours

I was there for just 2 days, definitely not enough time to see all of anywhere, but I did see a lot and sketched a lot (see previous post)! Here's the first day which was spent in Matsue and Izumo.

And before I begin, I have to give credit to mr. ojisandake for all of the information that both he and his blog posts provided me with! The fact that I was able to find that much information about Shimane through his blog was one of the main reasons why I chose to go there. Thank you once again!

seaside, near the art museum

the art museum

Matsue Castle

the start of a long approach to the Izumo Taisha shrine, one of, if not the, oldest Shinto shrines in Japan

big rope and people trying to lodge coins in by throwing them up

a step back

and near there, a museum on Ancient Izumo designed by mr. Fumihiko Maki, the same japanese architect who did the sam fox buildings anad steinberg

structural detail

the approach from the back

a big gate near the Izumo Taisha shrine

and last, my "'requisite onsen visit." located right behind Izumoshi Station. really nice onsen. and on top of that, when i visited, they were having a sort of anniversary celebration and thus were giving out free towels and face soap as well as a ticket that could be redeemed for a free 5 minute massage, a beer, wine, yogurt, or body-fat test. there was a 30 minute wait for the massage, so i opted for the beer. i think the free towel, soap, and beer paid for the 600yen entrance fee. even without the free stuff, i'd definitely go back!

and that was day 1!