Japan.It's Bloomin marvellous.

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I really enjoyed this garden.A comparatively small area but so much detail.I enjoyed the different rocks and the interplay with the plants and the little bit of whimsy when the rocks were placed as if stairs but led just to a wall of the building.The shapes and colours of the trees and plants.It is why I took lots of photos here.

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The last of the garden-

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The peonies were just starting to flower-

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Then we had some free time to wander around the village-

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And a citrus grove-

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That is Giichi Tanaka another from this area to become PM.It was in 1927.

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Now it is off to the Tokoji temple-

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The first part of this complex including the temple is really not that impressive so you do wonder why this is a must visit.A few more pics around the temple with another example of a Japanese downpipe-

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You then go off to the side between 2 rows of samurai graves.Then you glimpse through the trees something that turns out to be spectacular-

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This is the place where 5 of the Feudal lords of Hagi are buried with their wives.In older times when the lord was buried all his servants and staff were buried with him.They figured out that was a bit of a waste so instead here they erected stone lanterns to represent those that previously would have been sacrificed.It makes for an impressive sight.On some special nights candles are lit in each of the lanterns.That must be really impressive.

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There is a Chinese camellia bush said to be 300 years old here.However if you step on a fallen flower you will have bad luck for the rest of your life.I was very careful-

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Another native Japanese orchid.A cymbidium with just 1 very green flower per stem-

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The last of Tokoji temple-

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So it was now back on the bus and off to Hagi port where the Caledonian Sky was waiting for us.It had been a fine day but it turned grey and really cold.As we sailed we noticed a large house which was certainly not your typical Japanese house-

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It was now off to Sakaiminato.

 

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The sun did actually peep through the fog for a quite different sunset-

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That night the sea did get a little rough but with a swell of 2-3 metres there shouldn't have been much problem.The Caledonian Sky didn't handle it that well and there was a fair bit of movement.The problem though was the noise.We weren't the only ones who couldn't sleep with the constant noise.So with 2 quite long days and little sleep we didn't feel 100% the next day.But we had escorts into port-

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So now on to the bus and a drive to Matsue castle.It is one of the 12 surviving original castles and the second largest of those.Some pics from the bus-

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When we arrived at the castle there was a very old man being photographed in front of the castle and the sign of the clan name.The young man then went to swap places.So I offered to take a picture of the 2 of them.The young fellow was full of thanks as it was his grandfather and they were of the Matsudaira clan.He was sure it would be his grandfather's last trip here so appreciated having a photo of he and his grandfather together.It really is part of the enjoyment
of Japan.
So to the castle and surrounding grounds-

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Continuing with the temples in the grounds-

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On to the castle-

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Most of the Japanese castles you tour are much of a muchness as most are basically reproductions.This one isn't and does have a good collection of helmets,swords etc.It was built in 1611 and the date confirmed with wooden plaques found during cleanup.Reproductions on display-

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So several pics of the displays inside Matsue castle-

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The last 3 pics plus the next 4 are all part of a long screen.Beautiful-

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Then you get tp the top which gives great views-

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