Shimane

The province

Get to know Shimane

Shimane occupies a narrow stretch of the coast of the Sea of Japan in the San'in region, and includes the Oki Islands. It is the land of many of Japan’s ancient myths, compiled in the country’s earliest chronicles. The capital, Matsue, lies between Lake Shinji and the Nakaumi lagoon.

Izumo Taisha is one of Japan’s oldest and most important shrines, dedicated to Okuninushi, a deity associated with marriage and human bonds. A huge sacred rope hangs over the prayer hall. According to tradition, the gods from across the country gather in Izumo in the tenth month of the old calendar, when the shrine holds special ceremonies. Izumo soba is served in stacked bowls.

Matsue has an original wooden castle keep, a national treasure, with boats that cruise the moats. The house where the writer Lafcadio Hearn lived, who wrote about Japanese legends, is now a museum. The sunset over Lake Shinji is one of the city’s iconic scenes. In Yasugi, the Adachi Museum of Art has gardens viewed through windows as if they were paintings.

In Oda, the Iwami Ginzan silver mine was one of the world’s largest in the 16th and 17th centuries and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2007. Visitors walk through the Ryugenji Mabu tunnel and the Omori village of old houses. To the southwest, Tsuwano is a small castle town with carp in its canals and a shrine with red torii gates. The Oki Islands feature cliffs and volcanic landscapes.