Izumo Taisha Shrine in Matsue is regarded as Japan’s oldest shrine and also the country’s second most important. Like some of the other small towns I’ve visited in this country, there is a main street that leads up to the compound, and the requisite Starbucks and local souvenir shops and small cafes and restaurants would line both sides of the street. Our guide – also the conference organiser who accompanied us on this excursion – quipped that this is a really quiet town: shops would all close at 5PM everyday, with the local Starbucks following shortly after at 6PM.
The afternoon we visited saw a fair number of visitors – mostly locals. There are numerous buildings in the shrine compound, each with its own significance. Many of the buildings have its own signage with QR-code that you can scan to get historical background on the building. I was nursing a toe blister at this point, so was contended to take it super easy and not explore the compound too much! Still, pictures of the visit this hot and humid afternoon:
We stayed at the Izumo Taisha Shrine area for a fair bit longer than planned, and only left the area at 2:45PM. Next stop: the Shimane Prefecture Ancient Izumo History Museum!