The conference I attended in Matsue city comprises three full days of presentations and talks, followed by an optional fourth day that takes attendees around selected sights of the prefecture. More on that in the next post!
In the mean time, the third day evening brought us to Yuushien Garden for the conference banquet. Matsue city itself is famous for the two lakes that it sits on either side of the city. This Garden was about 30 minutes away by coach, and sits on the small Daikonshima island, itself situated in the Lake Nakaumi. The Garden normally closes at 5PM, and it was just past closing time by the time we got there. However, we were able to explore the garden while making our way through it to get to the restaurant inside the Garden. It was quite a novel experience: I’ve visited several Japanese gardens in trips to this country, but this is the first I’ve been to after closing hours! But then, bad luck struck: it started drizzling: and we had to scamper for shelter.
Pictures are below. It looks like there was no one else about: but in reality, there were about 150 of us – all conference delegates – in the garden. I was in the first bus to arrive though, and was ahead of the groups which were making our way through it. So, the pictures have nary a soul in sight.
