Peregrinating pallies

The creme royale of nob-ility, His Edenic Maj and Prince Ronaldo, voyaged to the Orient last month in the Regal Golden Dragon Dirigible and, with a wave of His Maj's sceptre, dismissed all calls to visit Emperor Akihito and instead chose Matsue as their first stop. They came down-diddly-down over Shimanean countryside, letting out hot air over Matsue with great gusto during their descent. Indeed, the locals were most appalled by the guff, but there may have been some confusion with the recent Yellow Sand dragon from China.

Over the next three days the royal entourage, Sir S and myself, toured places of cultural interest such as Matsue Castle, Lafcadio Hearn's former residence and Izumo Taisha. We also hired a new-fangled motor and took a jaunt to various seaside towns.

Here are some snaps of the traditional Japanese house once lived in by Mr Hearn, previously a samurai residence (below) as well as pics of Izumo (above).