Last tour – Phew.  Although, really, these tours have not been as bad as some. We are hopeful for today as well!  The day starts our right – gorgeous weather, blue skies above a very pretty coastline as we sail into Sakaiminato.  We use our normal strategy for disembarkation, although today is particularly crazy for some reason, but everything works and we are on the bus in the front in no time.  Our guide Nozomi (yes, just like the train!) is adorable!  She lived in Raleigh NC for 2 years with her husband who was teaching school there.  She held up her personalized license plate from NC and we almost fell over!  So fun and she was great the whole day.

We won’t be seeing any of Sakaiminato today, but instead, we are driving around the peninsula to visit Matsue, an ancient Feudal town with canals and castle, then onto the Adachi Art Museum, renowned for its Japanese gardens.  Our first stop will be for a canal boat ride along the canals.  Nozomi explains that we will be sailing under bridges that are so low, we will have to duck to go under – we’ve read about this, and it should be fun with some of the people on this bus, but nevertheless! 

Arriving at the boat landing, we notice that all the boats have awning roofs on them.  How does that work when we have to duck down to get under the bridge?  Once we are split up into groups and board our ride, taking off our shoes in the bow of the boat, we soon find out how the canvas roof works!  We have to do a practice run with ducking, and the roof actually cranks down on top of us – essentially forcing us to duck.  Makes sense, you know if it wasn’t there people wouldn’t listen and would conk their heads on the bridge!  And we’re off – through the 4 km of canals surrounding the castle that remain the same as when they were created 400 years ago.  We sail along forested areas, the castle walls and through town neighborhoods on our 30 or so minute ride. There are gorgeous red brick buildings covered with ivy, lots of green spaces, great views up to the castle and of course, a heron – always a heron following us where ever we go.

It is pretty and green and quiet and peaceful – and a really nice little trip – oh – yeah, with 4 bridges where we need to duck!   The first two aren’t too terribly bad, we all hunch down, giggling and laughing and make it through easily as the roof rises .  The last two are the lowest though – and the most fun!  We are all almost laying down for the 3rd bridge, and for the 4^th?  Literally laying flat out, as much as we can in this little space. Too much fun!  We really thought it would be hokey,  but it wasn’t at all.

Back to the bus, past stone gardens and cartoonish statues – including the real cartoon dragon/creature at the entrance to the carpark, we make the short drive to the Matsue castle for our visit there.

Matsue Castle is one of 12 original castles left in Japan. All the others have been rebuilt, but this building is the original from 1611.  Built as a stronghold for feudal lords, it is more fortress and watchtower than a residence. Which becomes apparent when we enter the castle itself, which is basically all just tower with some space on each level with the stairs.

Up we climb – with breaks on each level to look at different historical displays such as all the work that has been done to repair and restore the castle, the original Shiusarako that once adorned the roof as well as Onigawara (ogre-shaped roof tiles) that came from the castle tower roof.  The structure itself is pretty amazing too – all huge polished wood floors, walls and support beams.  The stairs are like ladders, only with hand rails!

Once at the top, the views across the city are excellent.  Well worth the climb – and the climb really wasn’t all that onerous.  

Through with the climb and the views, we still have some time before we have to meet back at the bus, so we make full use of our free time exploring the castle grounds, getting some great exterior shots of the castle and the surrounding gardens. 

We had thought we might be able to walk to the Samurai residence history museum, but turns out that was a bit too far flung for the time we had, so we turned back to the castle, instead exploring a shrine and the old State Guest House building which is completely Western colonial looking – and not at all what you would expect here on the castle grounds.

On the way back to the bus, we find a manhole cover! Yay.  Not as ornate or pretty as the other ones so far, but still, a nicer design than just plain.  And then it is onto lunch.  Today it is a buffet, which would normally fill us with dread, but in this case turns out to be amazing.  In a hotel somewhere in Matsue, it was monstrous, totally Japanese, with everything you could ever desire.  Sushi, noodles, spring rolls, congee, soup – it was a great meal.  Once of the best we’ve had on tour in a while (we’re looking at you Hakodate!).

The final stop was the Adachi art museum, founded by Adachi Zenko who had a passion for Japanese Gardens.  Here he created a 40 acre garden comprised of a Dry landscape garden, White Gravel and Pine garden, Moss garden and Pond garden; all creating harmony with each other and the artwork held within the museum.  You can’t walk in the gardens, which at first was sort of perplexing to us.  But once inside the museum, with walkways and windows that looked out onto the pristine landscape, you can understand why only the gardeners have access to this place.  Tourists would ruin the beauty – and it is stunningly beautiful.  We’ll let you just enjoy the photos!

Inside, the collections were equally stunning – everything from wood carvings to hanging scrolls to modern Japanese Paintings.  No photos allowed in this part of the museum, but in the Annex, where they have Contemporary Japanese Paintings and a special exhibition on the up and coming artists, we can snap away – and boy do we.  These artists are great – and their work is beautiful and intriguing on so many different levels and styles.  In the piano girl painting, you can almost feel the texture of the pleated shades behind her, as if it almost 3D.  Excellent.

On our way out of the museum, we stop for Peach ice cream – a specialty in this region according to Masako.  Lives up to the reputation!  A nice little refreshing treat for the end of the day.  We also buy a sweet little bean bag like Ro Yukihashi, an owl that is said to bring happiness, “unhard work” and wisdom to those who possess it.  We can use that – plus it is adorable.

Back on the bus, we head toward the ship – with Masako regaling us with stories of the museum and gardens – there are only 7 gardeners who take care of the entire 40 acre garden!  Amazing.  She holds up her license plate again and tells us about living in NC, trying to get her driver’s license and a whole host of other endearing and funny stories.

We circle around lake Nakaumi, which means middle of the sea, probably because it is brackish and completely surrounded by the Shimanen peninsula, but is connected to the Japan Sea by a channel. The views are pretty, including a little island with a Tori gate you can walk to in low tide that has some significant meaning I can no longer recall!  We also get to drive over the roller coaster bridge again – the one that Ian talked about – and where we got the best picture of it, because when you are on it, you can’t tell how acute the incline is, or how it undulates! 

And that is the end of our last HAL tour – but talk about an excellent one! Everyone was on time at every stop, always polite, no complainers, no one was overly obnoxious. We were quite impressed.  Not enough to sign up for more…but hey…we’ll take the win on this one. 

It was a long day, and we actually got back to the ship fairly late, in time for the farewell show which was nice with some kitschy sort of songs.  Lido again tonight – it’s Asian Night! Can you say sushi?  And a lovely evening sitting outdoors.  Then it was the Theater for a new fly on singer – OMG!  One of the best shows we’ve seen in a while!  The performer was a singer, who was also a comedian and she put on a hysterical show as she taught us the “rules” to be a headliner performer on a cruise ship. A total crack-up, plus an excellent voice and great songs. A lovely night capped off with a beautiful sunset and then full moon from our fantastic aft balcony.  Another good day in Japan.