Lafcadio Hearn and the beauty of Japanese houses
After arriving at Matsue Station, I walked toward Matsue Castle,
following the traces of ラフカディオ・ハーン, Lafcadio Hearn,
who became widely known in Japan as Koizumi Yakumo.
Around Matsue Castle, the old samurai district and surrounding moats have been carefully preserved,
allowing visitors to experience the atmosphere of the past.
Along one of these quiet streets stands Hearn’s former residence.
It is said that he deeply admired the beauty of traditional Japanese houses.
Japanese houses are designed as a kind of “space” —
a frame that allows nature itself to become the artwork.
Seasonal flowers and trees are placed within this space,
and the changing seasons become part of daily life.
When the sliding doors are opened or closed,
the boundary between inside and outside shifts,
and the garden appears like a living painting framed by the house.
Hearn valued this quiet time with nature —
the sound of frogs, the presence of seasonal flowers.
When I visited in March,
hina dolls were displayed in the alcove,
and plum blossoms were just beginning to bloom in the garden.
Sitting quietly on the tatami,
I felt something simple and clear:
the beauty of having nothing but nature itself.
What is passed down — the quiet continuity of Matsue
Hearn was affectionately called “Hearn-san” by the local people.
On the day I visited — March 1st —
students were graduating from a nearby high school where he once taught English.
Three girls walked across a small bridge over the moat,
their hair softly curled, wearing matching ribbons and school bags.
In that moment,
something unchanged and something gently carried forward
seemed to overlap in the same space.
The samurai district is home not only to Hearn’s residence and memorial museum,
but also to small local restaurants and traditional inns.
Through these spaces,
you can experience the quiet beauty of simply being —
of nature existing without excess.
Across the street, pine trees line the moat,
creating a striking contrast with the still water.
Occasionally, a small boat passes,
drawing a quiet line across the surface.
Matsue is also known as a city of tea.
The feudal lord Matsudaira Fumai was a master of tea culture,
and even today, tea and traditional sweets remain an important part of life here.
I stopped at a small shop and had green tea with a sweet filled generously with red bean paste.
In places where water is pure,
tea and sweets seem to develop a deeper richness.
A culture that embraces shadow — Matsue and Kyoto
In Matsue, shadows are everywhere.
The shadows of pine trees,
of samurai houses,
of quiet streets.
At sunset, the light over Lake Shinji deepens these contrasts,
and the silhouettes of willow trees stretch along the river.
There is a sense here that beauty is not only found in brightness,
but also in darkness —
in what is imperfect, hidden, or unseen.
In this way, Matsue feels similar to Kyoto.
Both places seem to accept the presence of shadow
as something that gives depth to beauty.
This connection also appears in cultural traditions.
In Kyoto, there are “yokai tours” that explore stories of spirits.
In the San’in region, ghost stories and folklore remain close to everyday life.
The distance between the visible and the invisible —
between life and death —
feels quietly closer here.
This region is home to many storytellers of the unseen:
・Lafcadio Hearn, who wrote Kwaidan
・水木しげる, Shigeru Mizuki, creator of GeGeGe no Kitaro
・青山剛昌, Gosho Aoyama, creator of Detective Conan
Stories are not only written —
they are also passed down quietly within families.
My grandparents in Izumo used to speak naturally about spirits,
as if they were part of everyday life.
They would even say that, in times of trouble,
people sometimes seek the help of spiritual mediums.
As a child, I remember being afraid to walk to the bathroom at night,
because of these stories.
In Izumo, it is also common for family graves to stand within the grounds of the home.
Perhaps this sense of connection to the unseen
is not limited to this region alone.
Hearn himself was born in Greece —
another land deeply shaped by mythology.
Across seas and cultures,
the quiet awareness of what cannot be seen
may be something we all share.
“If you ignore the warnings and encounter something strange,
sharing it on social media may lift the curse—
and perhaps bring unexpected good fortune to your journey.”
A humorous sign with a slightly eerie tone,
reflecting the region’s love for folklore and the unseen.
To experience this quiet atmosphere more deeply,
staying in Matsue offers another way to understand the town.
-Lake Shinji Sunset Stays: A quiet place to watch the day fade in Matsue
This quiet atmosphere continues toward Izumo