Buri-chan in Matsue

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Winter in Matsue Style

We haven’t gotten a lot of snow this winter, but there’s still been enough to go get some classic views of the scenery around Matsue Castle.

The retro-style LakeLine Bus goes around all the major tourist spots and transportation hubs in central Matsue, and a day pass is 500 yen.

The “Matsu” in “Matsue” means “pine,” and this is one of my favorite pines among the many around Matsue Castle.

Migratory birds flock here in winter. I think these are all cormorants.

The Izumo-style Japanese garden at the Matsue History Museum, as seen from Kiharu, the cafe inside with its own characteristic wagashi (Japanese confectioneries) which change motifs every month.

The Horikawa Sightseeing Boat makes its rounds, with kotatsu provided all winter.

This is the main venue for the Daichakai on the first weekend of October. Image this space covered with tents for different schools of the tea ceremony to try.

Lookin’ good as usual, you National Treasure, you.

Matsue Shrine, down the stairs from the castle tower.

Winter can be pretty, but it’s cold.

An equestrian statue of good old Matsudaira Naomasa. I say “old” but in this statue, he’s still a baby-faced 14-year-old. A 14-year-old who kicked butt in the Battle of Osaka.

Shiomi Nawate Street, along the northern moat.

Oh no, a ninja snowball attack! Take cover!

Uh oh… a ninja victim. Just one more ghost story to add to Matsue’s list, I suppose.

 

Seeking materials for reconstructing Matsue Castle’s Otemon Gate!!

Reblog for good measure!
Matsue Castle achieved National Treasure status last year, but the thousands of citizens who contributed to that recognition still want to retain as much of the castle’s history as possible.

San'in Monogatari

Matsue City aims to reconstruct Matsue Castle’s Otemon Gate that was torn down in the early Meiji Period, and is seeking source materials on which to base it.

○Requested Materials:　Old photos or blueprints of Matsue Castle’s Otemon Gate (materials than can be used for reconstruction purposes)
○Reward Money:　5,000,000 yen
※This is only applicable in cases where an expert reviews the materials and determines that they are useful for reconstruction purposes.
○Deadline：March 31, 2016
※Application period may end sooner upon finding usable materials.

If you have applicable materials, please contact: kokuhou AT city.matsue.lg.jp.

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Time slip back to the Meiji Period: Kounkaku

Mt. Kameda, now known as Jozan and the site of National Treasure Matsue Castle, is home to more than one historic building. Just down the stairs and north of the castle town sits Kounkaku, a Meiji era imperial guest house.

Completed in 1903 in anticipation of Emperor Meiji’s visit, it turned out to be used for instead in 1907 by his son who would go on to be Emperor Taisho. He stayed there for three nights in late May, and the buildings’ original function as a fitting spot to house an emperor was served.

During that time period when Japan was rapidly Westernizing, there was a rush to build Western style ballrooms where people in Western style attire would gather and socialize. Although they had observed many buildings abroad, the buildings in Japan maintained local construction techniques, there by retaining some elements that are very local in character, such as the wooden ceiling found at Kounkaku. In the emperor’s private sleeping quarters as well, the floors are made of tatami mats.

Whereas the floors in his working areas were covered in lush carpets. I’m give or take about the floors, but I love those curtains.

The building served as a prefectural office for a short period of time, and then as the Matsue Folklore Museum for a few decades, but ended with the 2011 opening of the Matsue History Museum nearby in a new (and very nice) building modeled on a high ranking samurai home. Kounkaku was closed for about two years undergoing renovations, and reopened last October both as a general tourism spot and as an event space.

We’ve hosted a couple of receptions for delegates from Matsue’s Friendship City, New Orleans, here on the second floor (it’s tempting to call it a ballroom, but it was not actually designed as a party space). I’ve had a few people ask me if the building was based on Southern plantation buildings, as something about it feels very much like home to them.

I can’t say it feels familiar to me, but I do feel at home in buildings that transport you back to ages long ago. Great care was taken in preserving the buildings’ integrity while adding accessibility options and toilets to the back of it outside of the original building. The paint colors are as close to the original as we have sources to indicate, and all the locks and keyholes, marbled Meiji glass, and wooden door remain the same. Even the knicks in the wood from years of use remain as they are, adding character akin to freckles to a building that remains proud and regal.

My affection for the state of the building made me alarmed when I was consulted about adding a cafe to the downstairs.

I could see why it seemed like a good idea on the surface, but I was consumed with how many ways a good idea could go wrong. There was some talk about opening a Cafe Du Monde chain there, given the connections between Matsue and New Orleans and that Japan is the only place where the chicory coffee and beignet shop allows any chains. If they put enough effort into maintaining the character of both Cafe Du Monde and of Kounkaku I though that had potential to be very impressive, but the company that owns the Cafe Du Monde chains in Japan–and made an abomination of them by selling breakfast hot dog sandwiches and not even providing beignets at its Kyoto Station location–likely would not allow the city such flexibility to try to honor the original. What’s a more, a chain—-if it were any kind of coffee shop with a recognizable name in Japan, that name would inevitably be all over the Meiji architecture, during the imperial guest house into a shrine to modern commerce and convenience culture. With those fears in mind, I strong advised that unless they could made an independant shop with commitment to a Meiji style atmosphere and menu, it would be safer not to chance it with a commercial enterprise.

Granted, my advise was only asked for in passing, but I doubt my influence went very far. There were other who also loved the building who had even more grave concerns, such as keeping the Prfectural Cultural Property from going up in flames due to electrical fires.

The cafe opened at the same time the building reopened to visitors last fall. And to my pleasant surprise, the Kamedayama Tea Room was not a name I recognized.

I should know by now that Matsue loves its castle town atmosphere too much to let it be sold out in the name of progress. Even the castle tower itself only stands today because a Meiji period citizens’ group pooling money together to buy it from the government to prevent it from being demolished in a nationwide effort to toss out the old and unnecessary remnants of feudal Japan. Likewise, they would not let just any cafe operate inside of a building as special as Kounkaku.

As the name suggests, it is named for the mount on which Matsue Castle stands. Due to strict fire prevention guidelines placed on designated cultural properties, there are limits to how much electricity the cafe can use, and no open flames are allowed. As such, the food is prepared off site and kept cooled and/or heated up on the premises, thereby although reducing noise. Visual noise is also kept to a minimum with the sleek and understated design of the furniture and dishes.

So far I’ve only tried an Earl Grey with persimmon cheesecake, as well as one breakfast there, but they do have an appetizing lunch menu as well. I am also very intrigued by the Kuromoji Tea, a brew hailing from the nearby Oki Islands and long since a favorite in Shimane Prefecture. I’ll bet it’s fragrant, and I’m saving trying it for a time when I don’t need a kick of caffeine.

It’s now also the closest spot to Matsue Castle to grab lunch or stop in for tea time. Of course, that doesn’t mean the springtime picnics around the castle are likely to decrease.

 

Seeking materials for reconstructing Matsue Castle’s Otemon Gate!!

Matsue City aims to reconstruct Matsue Castle’s Otemon Gate that was torn down in the early Meiji Period, and is seeking source materials on which to base it.

○Requested Materials:　Old photos or blueprints of Matsue Castle’s Otemon Gate (materials than can be used for reconstruction purposes)
○Reward Money:　5,000,000 yen
※This is only applicable in cases where an expert reviews the materials and determines that they are useful for reconstruction purposes.
○Deadline：March 31, 2016
※Application period may end sooner upon finding usable materials.

If you have applicable materials, please contact: kokuhou AT city.matsue.lg.jp.

 

Suitoro Lantern Festival Presented in Haiku Form

The gods are here
It’s Kamiarizuki
Better light the way!

Here in Matsue
We call this Suitoro
Lantern Festival

Around the Castle
On a breezy night time stroll
Handmade lanterns gleam

Each one unique
Celebrating the city
In various styles

The lantern I made for Suitoro 2013, featuring Matsue Castle, the Horikawa Sightseeing Boat, and my own spin on “Enishizuku.”

Not only on foot
You can view them by boat too
City of Water~

Click for source and more photos (Japanese)

 

Tea under the Nanjyamonjya

I had a little tea party with some of my favorite trees in Matsue. I’ve written about these unusual trees before, if the photos from that entry are any point of comparison, then this year I got to them a little bit early and the fringe-like petals had not yet gotten so long.

When most people think of the Nanjyamonjya (an affectionate nickname to the effect of “what-the-tree-is-this?”, whereas its usual name is hitotsubatago) as the line of full, fluffy trees near the Otemae entrance to Matsue Castle, at the southeast corner.

There are also a few on the quieter western side, nestled between the plum and camellia gardens.

I started my little tea party in the sunny patch under the most sparse of the trees, mostly using miniature tools I had received as gifts, and enjoying some seasonal sweets from Saiundo, one of the major wagashi producers in Matsue. Every time the wind blew, I was surrounded by falling white petals that made little thumping sounds against my hat. Playful sparrows hopped around above, and I had the view of the nearby sunlight nanjyamonjya and the lush nanjyamonja a short distance away in the shadows.

Despite the various tea events going on, such as the temporary tea house on the castle moat, this was rather unceremonious. Although Matsue is a prime spot for a number of schools of the tea ceremony, in its general daily tea culture, they embrace very casual matcha drinking. Hence, I took it easy.

I made sure to have that second cup, though! I had that one over by the main entrance, as more and more Sunday tourists gradually started making their trips up to the castle tower. These trees are one the first things you see upon entering, so there were comments over and over and over about the sight of them.

“Wow! Look at those trees!”
“What is that?”
“How pretty…”
“They’re so fluffy.”
“Hi-to-tsu-ba-ta-go… hmm, never heard of it.”
“Oh, looks like it’s also called nanjyamonjya. Hahaha, nanjyamonjya!”
“Nanjyamonjya!”

Their curiosity upon seeing these trees was justified, as Matsue Castle is one of only about six places in Japan where these trees are found.

There was also the more typical Matsue Castle views to enjoy–the tower itself, the ninomaru area of the inner keep, the majestic castle walls in the bright sunshine.

But enjoying the tea and the petals was nice enough already.

Until next year, fluffy trees.

 

Matsue Castle: Still original, now a treasure

On May 15, 2015, Matsue Castle was deemed a National Treasure!

It was already Important Cultural Property and one of the twelve remaining original castles of Japan, noted especially for the atmosphere within from its wooden floors, pillars, and stairs, steep and uneven with the same character they had when the castle was completed back in 1611. It is now the fifth castle around Japan to enjoy this status, one that a dedicated citizens’ group had long been working to achieve. Matsue Castle has a history of relying on its citizens, as it was only due to the citizens’ insistence and fundraising to purchase it from the government that it was saved from being burned down during the Meiji Period, when many castles were deemed unnecessary by the Westernizing government and subsequently torn down (only to be rebuilt in concrete years later). The black castle, affectionately nicknamed Chidori-jo (Plover Castle) for its sweeping, gabled roofs, and the original rock walls and moats and canals, and even the town layout designed to protect the castle from intruding armies remain much as the same as they were in the Edo period.

It’s okay to be a little jealous that I get to see this National Treasure every day from my window. Life here is pretty cool.

Click photo for Facebook source.

 

Feudal parade in Matsue, 2015

I snapped a few photos at this event as well, but it’s the kind of event that calls for beautiful photography. For beautiful photography, visit Made in Matsue!

 

Because it’s not a Japan blog without cherry blossoms