Matsue Castle

The black Castle of Matsue

Matsue Castle is one of the few remaining medieval castles in Japan in their original wooden form. It is also known as the black castle due to its dark color. The castle is located near Lake Shinji, surrounded by many canals where tourists can take a memorable boat ride.

Inasahama Beach

Inasahama Beach

Inasahama is one of the most sacred Japanese beaches located in Japan where Gods are said to have descended to make it their own country on Earth.

Izumo Taisha

Praying for love at Izumo Taisha

Izumo-taisha, officially Izumo ƌyashiro, is one of the most ancient and important Shinto shrines in Japan. Located in the city of Izumo of Shimane Prefecture, the shrine is dedicated to the god of nation-building – Okuninushi-no-okami

Hinomisaki Shrine

Hinomisaki Shrine

Hinomisaki Shrine is an ancient shrine encircled by a grove of old pine trees near Cape Hino in the Izumo city of Shimane Prefecture. The vermillion-lacquered shrine, described as “Misa Gisha” in the ancient text of the Izumo no Kuni Fudoki, was built in honor of two sibling deities with a prominent presence in Japanese mythology; Amaterasu, goddess of the sun, and her younger sibling Susano, god of storms and the sea.

Izumo Hinomisaki Lighthouse

Exploring the Hinomisaki Lighthouse

Japan’s tallest masonry lighthouse and ranked in the top 100 historic lighthouses in the world, Hinomisaki Lighthouse is one of the unique sites in Shimane Prefecture. Situated in a quaint fishing village overlooking the rugged coastal terrain, this iconic guidepost has been aiding maritime navigation since 1903.

Sunset at Lake Shinji

Sunset at Lake Shinji

Lake Shinji is a lake in the northeast area of the Shimane Prefecture in Japan. The lake is the seventh largest in Japan, with a circumference of 48 kilometres. It is enclosed by the Shimane Peninsula to the north, and the Izumo and Matsue plains to the west and east respectively.

Adachi Garden

The heavenly Adachi Gardens

The Adachi gardens feels like part of a painting. Too bad visitors cannot touch or walk among the heavenly garden. The garden is the brain-child of Adachi Zenko who created it in 1980 as a way of combining his passions for Japanese art and garden design.