View of Shiominawate

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Basic data

Facility summary and accessibility conditions

Shiominawate was selected in 1986 as one of the 100 famous Japanese roads.
It extends about 500 meters along the castle moat.
It keeps the appearance of a castle town of old times.
On this road, there's a former Samurai residence and the former residence of Yakumo Koizumi (Lafcadio Hearn) who so much loved Matsue.
It's said that the name "Shiominawate" derived from the name of Kohei Shiomi, a worker of the Matsue feudal domain.
The word "nawate" means a narrow extending road.
The sidewalk along the moat is 2 meter-wide, but the sidewalk along the buildings is sometimes less than 1 meter.
There are several steps from the sidewalk to the entrance to the Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum, the former residence of his, and the former Samurai residence.
Address Kitahori-chō, Matsue, Shimane
Telephone 0852-22-2243（Former Samurai residence） 0852-23-0714（Former residence） 0852-21‐2147（Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum）
Fax -
URL http://www.matsue-tourism.or.jp/
E-mail
Reception hours April - September: 8:30 - 18:30 October - March: 8:30 - 17:00
Regular holidays
Transportation, closest station, bus stop

From Matsue Station, 3 km(1.9mi).
About 30 minutes on foot.
From Matsue Station, by Matsue Lake Line Bus, about 16 minutes. (One of three buses is a low floor bus).
Get off at Shiominawate bus stop or at Koizumi Yakumo Kinenkan Mae bus stop.
Bumps at the entrance

Yes Former Samurai residence → temporary wooden ramp (Reservation necessary) Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum → ramp
Entrance width -
Accessible bathroom
Bathroom entrance width 90cm(35.4in)
Accessible parking space

Yes.
Jōzan Nishi parking space: 3 lots.
Ōte Mae parking space: 2 lots
Wheelchair loaning

No
Multilingual information Partially available
Display items with multilingual explanation Partially available
Multilingual pamphlets Partially available
Staff fluent in foreign languages

Not available
Wifi connection Yes (Former Samurai residence only)
Audio (English) guidance

No

Accesible data

Photo Comment
Sidewalk along the former Samurai residence The sidewalk does not look wide enough for guiding a visually impaired person
Sidewalk along the moat Sidewalk along the moat reconstructed in March 2009.
Sandy sidewalk but solid and easy to move in a wheelchair.
Sidewalk before reconstruction. Sidewalk along the moat.
Be careful because at some places, there are pine trees bending over the sidewalk.
However, it’s possible to move along in a wheelchair.
This part, too, has been reconstructed.
After reconstruction After construction
Entrance to the accessible bathroom Accessible bathroom in front of Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum, sliding door
Inside the accessible bathroom Inside the accessible bathroom in front of Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum
In front of a payphone booth Payphone booth next to the accessible bathroom.
Stone pavement in front of the payphone booth

Inspector’s comments

A wheelchair user (manual) Male / Able to walk a short distance using a cane
The sidewalk along the moat is soil, relatively wide, with a solid surface, possible to move along in a wheelchair.
Along the houses, the sidewalk is narrow, which may require using the roadway for some parts. In that case, you have to pay attention to the cars passing by.