Japan
Matsue
A lakeside castle city where Lafcadio Hearn heard ghost stories the West had never imagined.
The lake turns gold. Every evening, Lake Shinji's sunset transforms the water into a molten surface that locals and visitors gather at the shore to watch in near-silence. Matsue is a castle town in Japan's Shimane Prefecture where Lafcadio Hearn — the Irish-Greek writer who became Japan's most famous Western interpreter — lived, wrote, and fell in love with both the country and his future wife.
Matsue Castle is one of only twelve castles in Japan with an original keep, its dark wooden tower rising from a hilltop surrounded by moats. Lafcadio Hearn's former residence, preserved exactly as he left it in the 1890s, sits beside the Buke Yashiki samurai residence district — his writing desk faces the garden he described in 'Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan.' Horikawa pleasure boats cruise the castle moat, passing under bridges so low that a retractable canopy folds down and passengers lie flat. Izumo soba, made with unhulled buckwheat for a darker, nuttier flavour, is served in stacked round lacquer boxes called warigo.
Solo
Reading Lafcadio Hearn in the house where he wrote, then walking to the lake for the sunset he described — Matsue is literary pilgrimage for the thoughtful solo traveller.
Couple
The moat boat ride, the Hearn house, and Lake Shinji's sunset create an afternoon that builds towards a natural emotional climax.
- Lafcadio Hearn's former residence is preserved exactly as he left it — his writing desk faces the garden he described in 'Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan'.
- Sunset over Lake Shinji turns the water molten gold — rated one of Japan's top sunset viewing points.
- Horikawa pleasure boats cruise the castle moat under bridges so low passengers must lie flat to pass.
- Izumo soba, made with unhulled buckwheat for a darker, nuttier flavour, is served in three-tiered lacquer boxes.
Shijimi clam miso soup from Lake Shinji — the morning cure the city swears by.
Izumo soba served in three stacked lacquer boxes, dipped and slurped round-style.
Melrose
Scotland
A ruined abbey where a lead casket holds the embalmed heart of Robert the Bruce.
Freixo de Espada à Cinta
Portugal
Each February, almond blossoms turn this remote northeast valley white beneath a seven-sided Manueline tower.
Sweetheart Abbey
Scotland
A widow built this abbey around her husband's embalmed heart — the red sandstone still blushes.
Richmond
England
A Norman castle above a river gorge with a Georgian theatre still staging plays.
Unzen
Japan
A volcanic hot spring town where Christian martyrs were boiled and the earth still steams.
Koyasan
Japan
Lanterns guiding pilgrims through 200,000 tombstones beneath millennium cedars.
Tomonoura
Japan
A harbour so perfectly preserved that Miyazaki drew Ponyo's world from its waterfront.
Teshima
Japan
A single raindrop museum on a terraced island where art and rice paddies merge.