Where in Japan I'd rather live (choice #1)

Today is a very snowy day out here in Niigata, so I feel like it's as good a time as any to reflect on where in Japan I'd rather live. I've often daydreamt about this very topic, and there are probably a couple of places that I'd pick.

Obviously, I have to add a disclaimer that the places I'm choosing are only places I've visited. There's a huge difference between visiting somewhere for a vacation and living somewhere, so who knows how I would really feel if I had the opportunity to live in these places...I might find myself changing my mind pretty rapidly. 

My first choice, though, would be Shimane Prefecture, either somewhere in Matsue or in Izumo. Shimane is so often towards the bottom of the most visited prefectures lists that get published each year, and when I visited I couldn't understand why that was.

One reason I loved it there was that there was so much culture everywhere, but with none of the crowds. You've got one of the most important shrines in the country (Izumo Taisha), a real castle, not a replica (Matsue Castle), and a bunch more.

I also love the incredible gardens out that way. One of the best I've ever seen was at the Adachi Museum of Art, which has regularly won awards as having the best gardens in the entire country. I'm not a religious person, but seeing the gardens there was one of those almost spiritual moments for me.

I also really liked Matsue as a city because it was what I'd call "big enough, yet small enough". It has all the amenities you'd need, plenty of activities to do, lots of good places to eat and cute coffee shops, but it's not so big that it feels overwhelming. The public transport was easy to navigate, too.

I don't know if we have any City-Cost community members based in Shimane Prefecture, but if you haven't visited there I highly recommend it.