Matsue

Population 201,802 (Wikidata)

Live guide From your hotel
Photo · Commons

Before you go

Emergency numbers in Japan

Visas and entry What your passport needs for Japan
Daylight 9 h 47 in Dec, dark by 16:56 · 14 h 32 in Jun
  1. January: 10 h 01 of daylight
  2. February: 10 h 54 of daylight
  3. March: 11 h 55 of daylight
  4. April: 13 h 04 of daylight
  5. May: 14 h 01 of daylight
  6. June: 14 h 32 of daylight
  7. July: 14 h 20 of daylight
  8. August: 13 h 32 of daylight
  9. September: 12 h 27 of daylight
  10. October: 11 h 20 of daylight
  11. November: 10 h 20 of daylight
  12. December: 9 h 47 of daylight

Getting there

Remembered in this browser only, with the last few you used.

Best-documented sights

All of them in the guide

Within a kilometre of the centre, ordered by how well documented each is — not by a "best" anyone decided. Each opens on the map in the guide. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited there.

Through the year

  1. Castle Festival

    March – April

    Held yearly from late March to mid April. Around this time the cherry trees around the castle will be in full bloom, and many people have hanami picnics on the castle grounds.

  2. Matsue Irish Festival

    March

    Because writer Lafcadio Hearn, one of Matsue's favorite sons, was from Ireland there are strong links between Ireland and Matsue.

    Official site

  3. Tamatsukuri Onsen Cherry Blossom Festival

    March – April

    Held yearly from late March to mid April.

  4. Horan-enya

    May

    A very special festival, held only once every 12 years.

  5. Matsue Tenjin Festival

    July

    A lively festival held for two days every year in late July in the Tenjin-machi area, not too far from Matsue Station.

  6. Suigosai Fireworks

    July – August

    Massive fireworks display over Lake Shinji on two consecutive evenings, the second evening having the larger show. The Suigosai festival is held yearly late July or early August.

  7. Floating lanterns on Lake Shinji

    August

    Held each year mid August at the end of the Obon festival. The sight of floating paper lanterns being placed on Lake Shinji, symbolizing the return of ancestor spirits to another realm, is quite breathtaking.

  8. Matsue Suitouro Lantern Festival

    September – October

    Paper lanterns luminate the streets along the Matsue Castle moat from the Shimane Prefectural office all the way along Shiomi Nawate street.

    Official site

9 events here have no dates for this year yet. We can look them up on each event's own site.

Annual events from Wikidata and Wikivoyage (Matsue); descriptions from Wikipedia where it has one, photos from Wikimedia Commons. Dates move year to year — check before you plan around one.

Eating nearby

All 32 places to eat

Somewhere to run

Getting around

More train stations: Matsue 1.3 km, Nogi 2.3 km, Matsue English Garden-Mae 4.3 km, Tamatsukuri-Onsen 5.3 km, Asahigaoka 5.9 km

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Places © OpenStreetMap contributors, as of 17 October 2026. Description from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Events from Wikidata and Wikivoyage, population from Wikidata.