Shimane · DaikonshimaNo.846★★★Open in map →
Yushien Garden
— On the peony island in Lake Nakaumi
A strolling pond garden on a flat island in Lake Nakaumi, built around the two crops the island is known for — tree peonies and Korean ginseng. A covered hall keeps peonies flowering whatever the month.
- FromJR Matsue Station
- ~50 minMatsue city bus
- Get off atYatsukacho Yushien-iriguchi (Matsue city bus)
- On foot
- Yushien Garden
Where it is
14 more notes in Shimane · open the map →What to look for — in walking order
- The central pondthe heart of the circuit, with the path curving so the view keeps rearranging itself
- The garden waterfallwater dropping through mossed rock and maples in a wooded corner of the circuit
- Tree peony bedsoutdoor plantings along the path that carry the garden through the spring weeks
- Botan-no-yakata peony halla covered hall where peonies are held in bloom whatever the season outside
- Korean ginseng exhibitthe island's other crop, shown with the growing and processing that go with it
How to actually get there
- JR Matsue Station → Yatsukacho Yushien-iriguchi (Matsue city bus, Yatsukacho route).
- Walk south along the island road for about six minutes to the entrance.
- Follow the circuit round the pond, past the waterfall, to the peony hall and the ginseng exhibit.
- Check the return timetable at the stop before you go in.
- Matsue city bus from JR Matsue Station
- Buses on the Yatsukacho route leave JR Matsue Station and reach the Yatsukacho Yushien-iriguchi stop in about 45 to 50 minutes. The first departure is around 8:00, with roughly ten runs on a weekday and fewer at weekends, so choose your bus before you leave the station.
- Last bus back toward Matsue
- Return services use the same roadside stop, and the final departure toward JR Matsue Station goes a little after 19:00. There is no rail alternative on the island, so the timetable decides how long the visit can run.
About the place
The garden covers about four hectares on the western side of Daikonshima, laid out as a kaiyu-shiki circuit — a path that loops a central pond and gives up the composition a piece at a time. It was designed as a compressed portrait of the Izumo landscape, so the mounds, the rockwork and the clipped pines stand in for the hills and shores of the region. Tree peonies are planted along the route, and a covered hall beside them holds flowering plants under controlled conditions. A ginseng exhibit and a tea room that uses the root sit on the same circuit.
How to enjoy it
The garden opens at 9:30 and closes at 17:00, with last entry half an hour before that; hours are extended during the big seasonal events, so check before planning a late visit. Golden Week brings the floating peony display on the pond, summer adds a misted garden, and autumn into winter brings lit foliage and one of the largest Japanese-style illuminations in the region. Because of the covered hall, an ordinary weekday out of season still has flowers.
Background & history
Daikonshima is a low island in Nakaumi, the brackish lagoon lying between Lake Shinji and the sea. Its soil suited two demanding crops, and the island came to be known for peony seedlings and for Korean ginseng. The garden was laid out by its first owner in the 1970s, drawing the scenery of the Izumo region into a single circuit and putting those two crops at its centre. It has since grown into a year-round programme of flower displays and winter lighting.
Before you go
- Cash
- Admission is a sliding rate that moves with the season — at the time of writing the official site listed 1,000 to 1,800 yen for adults and 500 to 900 yen for school-age children. There is a shop and a tea room inside. Carry cash for the bus.
- Before you go
- The garden opens every day of the year. Much of the circuit is outdoors and exposed, so the wind off Nakaumi bites in winter. During the evening illumination season the gates stay open later than the standard closing time.
- Another way
- By car it is roughly 25 minutes from JR Matsue Station and about 15 minutes from Yonago Kitaro Airport or Sakaiminato Station, all of it across causeways. There is a large car park, which makes the island an easy stop on a drive between Matsue and the Sakaiminato coast.
- After you get off
- The stop sits on the island's main road a little north of the garden. Walk south along the road for about six minutes and the entrance and car park appear on your right.