Shimane, Part 1

Friday, July 11
The urgency of packing draws ever nearer, yet Chris and I spent another weekend away--this time in Shimane, located several prefectures west of Hyogo. We missed Lena's birthday bash and left Miki late on Friday, sleeping in the car at yet another expressway stop.

Saturday, July 12
I woke early to the chatter of arriving tourists and hot sun on my face. I left Chris to sleep as I completed all my girly morning rituals behind one of a long line of bathroom sinks. Once my driver had risen, we set out onto the road again. Our first stop of the day, Hiruzen Kogen, was also along the expressway. The Hiruzen area of Tottori Prefecture is famous for its milk; I bought a bottle of the coffee version.

Japan is wonderful for its selection of locally produced milk, all served in iconic and environmentally friendly glass bottles. Furthermore, the glass doesn't lend to the milk the papery taste that sipping from a carton does.

This trip would prove very fruitful to my "collection" of soft cream flavors. At the same station, we ate a simple vanilla version made with Hiruzen Jersey milk.

Shortly thereafter, we wound our way to the coast.

Along with several Hello Kitty keychains, I found nashi (pear) soft cream. (Tottori is famous for its pears.) Behind the cone is Kitaro, a character you will learn more about later in this post.

In Sakai-Minato, also of Tottori Prefecture, we stopped at the station, along which was a road devoted to Shigeru Mizuki, the hometown hero. Mizuki is the creator of a series of characters who grace animated shorts, manga, and most recently, a series of box office movies. The ghostly characters from his stories line the street leading to a museum celebrating his works.

The cartoon version of Mizuki at his desk, flanked by his most popular characters--Nezumi Otoko, Medama Oyaji, and Kitaro.

Mizuki's characters are yokai, mysterious creatures from Japanese folklore. The character atop this mailbox is Kitaro, a yokai boy with magical powers who works to strengthen ties between the spiritual and human worlds. Within his hair hides his father, an eyeball by the name of Medama Oyaji.

The local trains are decorated with the colorful characters.

I spotted this ad for Kitaro soft cream, but I was still full from the two I'd eaten earlier that day.

I love Neko Musume!

Kitaro-themed pastries.

A Medama Oyaji-shaped fountain.

Following our walk along Mizuki Shigeru Road, we stopped at a Michi no Eki, where I was ready for my third soft cream of the day, this time of a kaki (persimmon) flavor.


The day was particularly hot by the time we reached our main destination--the city of Matsue in Shimane Prefecture. We parked the car, then went exploring. We explored both the former home of and the museum devoted to writer Lafcadio Hearn, who lived in the city for a period of time and was seminal to the exposure of Japanese culture to the West. The son of an Irish father and a Greek mother, Hearn spent his life in a plethora of locations before settling down in Japan, where he gained citizenship through adopting his wife's family name of Koizumi.

We next visited the local castle. Boat tours circled the surrounding green waters.

The path to the castle appears tranquil and cool, but believe me, it was very hot.

Matsue Castle.

Chris mocking a pose I do, I think.

The air of the interior of the castle was stagnant and stale, but the top provided some refreshing breezes.

After a sweaty castle tour, Chris consented to my suggestion that we stop at a dango (!!!) shop I'd wanted to visit earlier. Upon entrance, we encountered a large glass display case housing rows of colorful mochi.

I had an iced green tea.

I chose the satsuma imo dango. The plump balls were soft, and the sweet potato paste on top made for a perfect match. I wish we could've taken some home, but in the hot weather, the sweets would've melted.

After the castle, we headed to the Shimane Art Museum. As we all know, Chris doesn't care for such places, but the area boasts a spectacular sunset, so he indulged me.

The museum sits beside the water, with stunning views from its floor-to-ceiling glass windows.

Outdoor sculpture that reminds me of the Nuri-Kabe character from the Kitaro series.

Bunny in motion.

Inside the museum, we caught the permanent collection, but were a little early for a special exhibition by children's book illustrator Eric Carle. I attempted to teach Chris appreciation for artistic technique, and I did reasonably well guiding him through a series of oil paintings, but I I lost him in a room displaying lacquered tea bowls: he wandered to a chair and fell asleep. He wasn't alone; many of the visitors were in fact asleep on the large benches downstairs, presumably waiting for the famous sunset.

We found these animal sculptures on the observation deck.

We opted not to sleep away the time 'til the sunset as other guests were doing and visited a local shopping center for food and air conditioning. We returned several hours later and joined a medium-sized gathering by the water.

It was hot.

There were a lot of couples there for romantic time. Not us. Chris was there for the pictures.

From there we went to AEON, I believe, where we spent far too much time. By the time we retreated to the onsen at which we would have our nightly shower (and thus rid ourselves of the day's layers of dried summer sweat) it was already closed. With little other options in a town that shuts down early, we gave up on being clean and passed time in a recycle shop. We then got onto the local expressway and found a "service area" in which to spend the night. Aside from a few trucks and swarms of bugs, we were the only ones there. The situation was hot, sticky, and slightly creepy. Our pride over saving money by avoiding hotels was quickly melted by sweat. Chris eventually fell asleep, but--call me a princess--I found it impossible. The air was thick with hot moisture that no amount of fanning could clear, and I could scarcely bear existing in my own filthy skin. It didn't help that we kept the windows open barely a crack, to avoid welcoming in mosquitos and other hellish summer creatures. I stayed awake all night playing games on Chris's DS. And when the battery on that died, I played games on my phone until the sun rose, a bus of tourists arrived, and it was time to wake Chris.