Relax with flowers and visit hot springs. A two-day trip to Matsue, Shimane, the "beautiful skin prefecture."

Ai Nishimura

Administrator of the blog "My Diary," which began in 2004. A writer who has traveled to all 47 prefectures and loves local culture and history.
Author of Shimane's "Geography, Place Names, and Maps" Mysteries (Jitsugyo no Nihonsha), My Town is the "Number One in Japan" Dictionary (PHP Institute), and Prefectures Explained in Neko Neko Japanese History (Jitsugyo no Nihonsha). Official blogger for Suntory Gourmet Guide, official top user for Retty, and official platinum blogger for Excite.

10:00 Matsue Vogel Park: an amusement park with flowers in full bloom all year round

We took the Ichibata Railway, which runs along the north side of Lake Shinjiko, and the first place we visited was Matsue Vogel Park.

It is located right in front of the station and has a large parking lot, making it an easily accessible spot. It is an all-weather facility that can be enjoyed in any season, and is popular with locals.

The vast 320,000㎡ site includes an observation deck and three large greenhouses, where you can be surrounded by tropical flowers and encounter rare birds.

The first thing you'll see when you enter the center house is the colorful begonias and fuchsias blooming in full glory. The sight of 7,000 carefully-cared-for flowers hanging from the ceiling or lined up in pots is overwhelming, and you'll feel like you're surrounded by flowers in all directions. There are plenty of photo spots, so you can take your favorite, vibrantly colored photos.

There are many birds in the park, and various shows are held at different times. There is also a pond where you can observe popular owls, friendly toucans, and water birds living in their natural environment.

On this day, we visited the penguins for a walk. Penguin walks are held twice a day. The children who participated were delighted to see the penguins roaming freely.

The park is large, so it will take about 1.5 to 2 hours to explore at a leisurely pace.

This is a facility where you can feel soothed and relaxed by the beautiful flowers and peaceful birds.

Matsue Vogel Park

13:00 Taste local sake in the birthplace of Japanese sake, traditional sake brewing at Kokki Sake Brewery

Matsue City, described as a "water city," has many rivers within the city, which connect to Lake Shinji, the seventh largest lake in Japan. The presence of rivers within the city has led to the flourishing of river boat transport, and many commercial activities have developed there since ancient times.

"Chamachi," where Kuniki Sake Brewery is located, has been an area inhabited by merchants since the days of the castle town. Kuniki, which was founded as a sake brewery here in the Meiji era, is now the oldest of the four breweries in Matsue City.

We talked to them while we had a tour of the brewery. They told us that they are currently working on prototyping new sake, as well as revamping the packaging and improving the bottles.

They use "rice suitable for sake brewing" from Shimane Prefecture, and the water for brewing comes from the mountains of "Makuragiyama", about an hour's drive from the brewery. Sake is brewed with meticulous and careful work and techniques that have been handed down for many years.

The pitch black wooden boxes covering the tanks give it a different feel from the other sake breweries I've visited around the country. To regulate the temperature that rises during fermentation, they are covered in wood and cool air is circulated inside to cool the inside. The black color is persimmon tannin, which has antibacterial properties, and all maintenance of these is done by the employees. Nowadays, there are tanks with temperature control functions such as thermal tanks, but Kuniki Shuzo has developed its own equipment by hand since ancient times, and these equipment is still used today with great care.

Did you know that Shimane Prefecture is known as the birthplace of sake?

The oldest historical book in Japan mentions the Izumo mythology, and in it, there is a sake called "Yashiori no Sake" that is said to have defeated the demon Yamata no Orochi.

Kuniki Shuzo researched this Yashiori sake and attempted to produce it, becoming the only brewery in the country to successfully produce it.

The sake that has been brewed for a year is then repeatedly brewed, and currently there are three types available: 6-year, 8-year, and 13-year old.

Yashioori sake is a full-bodied, aromatic sake with a pronounced sweetness of rice. In particular, "Yashioori Sake 13 Years" was brewed 13 times over 13 years, and is a thick, concentrated sake with a clear amber color and a full-bodied taste without any unpleasant flavors. Yashioori sake, with its deep flavor, can be enjoyed in a wide variety of ways, such as on the rocks or with soda. The efforts and challenges of Kuniki Shuzo, who have packed their skilled techniques into this sake and found a brewing method that can only be found here in the country, will continue to be poured into the many sakes produced here.

Inside the brewery, which has undergone expansion since the Edo period to take on its current form, you can sample not only Yashioori sake, but also the various other sakes produced by Kuniki.

Come discover and taste local sake at the sake breweries of Shimane, the birthplace of sake, and find your favorite.

Kuniki Sake Brewery

14:30 Delicious and beautiful green tea afternoon tea at "Scarab Bettei"

In the Izumo region, including Matsue, the custom of drinking matcha and eating Japanese sweets on a daily basis is deeply rooted. People casually make matcha at home and enjoy tea time. There are many tea specialty stores, and the tea leaf sections of supermarkets are well-stocked, with a wide selection of teas.

This lifestyle is deeply rooted in Shimane Prefecture. Matcha contains a lot of vitamin C, which is good for the skin, so this may be one way of creating beautiful skin in Shimane.

This Japanese café, run by Matsue tea shop Senchaso, has a beautiful lattice exterior that catches your eye. Inside the shop, there are various types of seating, including a Japanese-style raised platform with hanging scrolls, sofa seats, and counter seats, where you can enjoy seasonal sweets and lunches centered around tea.

I ordered the "Green Tea Afternoon Tea", which involves sipping green tea and enjoying sweets.

The main feature is that you can enjoy cold-brewed green tea along with hot green tea. Hot tea allows you to feel the subtle astringency and bitterness, while cold-brewed green tea allows you to enjoy the sweetness of the tea leaves. This afternoon tea is made with the hope that you will feel the difference and discover the true deliciousness of tea in Matsue, a tea-producing region. The handmade Japanese sweets served on the plate are also a well-balanced combination of sourness and sweetness.

The delicious menu includes drinks and parfaits created by staff who have been familiar with tea since childhood, as well as tea experts.

It was a quiet and peaceful place where you could experience the gentle atmosphere of Matsue.

Scarab Villa

18:00 Become beautiful from the inside out with ingredients from Shimane. Italian restaurant "Omaggio da Konishi"

This is an Italian restaurant that uses ingredients from Sanin region and serves food with excellent technique and refined taste.

After gaining experience working at a three-star restaurant in Italy and famous restaurants in Tokyo, owner and chef Konishi returned to his hometown of Matsue City and opened Omaggio da Konishi two and a half years ago.

There are five seats at the counter, one table for four, and one table for two. Each dish is carefully prepared, and the taste of the ingredients is the main focus. The refinement of the food makes you feel like you're in the ordinary, and the gentle flavors of the Italian regional cuisine and the seasonal ingredients will make you smile.

Since opening his restaurant in Shimane, he has often incorporated seafood into his cooking, and this course often featured fish caught in the surrounding ports.

In Sanin, we eat a lot of seafood. I was especially pleased to see that many ingredients typical of Shimane were used, such as the fresh horse mackerel used this time and Japan's best seaweed, "Uppurui nori."

The course also featured an abundance of vegetables from within the prefecture. Starting with a spicy and sour gazpacho made from green tomatoes from Hikawa, a plain that stretches across the river, and ending with a cup of herbal tea from Onan Town that came with the dessert, the course was full of dishes that made full use of the clear, clean-tasting ingredients.

The course contents are shown in the photos.

Reservations are required and the restaurant is currently only open for dinner. Why not try the rich culinary bounty of Shimane with Chef Konishi's Italian cuisine?

Omaggio da Konishi