If you’re visiting Matsue, you’ll quite quickly notice Matsue Castle, which rises up on a hill above the town. Completed in 1611, it’s part of a very select club - one of only 12 original castles left in Japan (i.e. not reconstructed replicas).
My in-laws actually live nearby so we visited twice - once when we first arrived, and then a second visit after some snowfall. Although I’ve seen a couple of other castles over my time in Japan (Himeji and Matsumoto, to name a few) I’ve never seen one in the snow, so I was hoping to be able to catch that this time around.
It’s very pretty!
The last time I visited Matsue Castle (in May 2024), the nearby pine trees were full of Grey herons. Funnily, the area also has a bit of a bird poo problem as the herons build their nests and shit all over the trees. It was very quiet and bird-free this time though, so I was happy when we spotted one heron by the lake on one of our walks.
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