島根県 · Chugoku Region

Shimane Hidden Gems

Shimane keeps the oldest strand of Japanese religion, and it does so in a place that modern Japan largely bypassed. Izumo Taisha appears in the eighth-century chronicles as a rival centre to the imperial cult, and its main hall is built in a style older than Buddhist architecture in Japan, with a shimenawa rope at the front hall weighing several tonnes. The clapping here is four times rather than the usual two. In the tenth lunar month, when the rest of the country calls it the month without gods, Izumo calls it the month with gods, because they are said to gather here. West along the coast, Iwami Ginzan was one of the great silver mines of the sixteenth century and supplied a significant share of world production; what remains is a wooded valley of tunnels and a preserved mining town rather than an industrial site. Matsue, on the lagoon, kept its castle and the writer Lafcadio Hearn.

3 spots

Climate & Best Season

Mild but wet, with grey winters and moderate snow inland. Best in spring, autumn, and during Kamiarizuki in November.

Famous For (Food)

Izumo soba
Shijimi clams
Nodoguro
Wari-go soba

Signature Sights

Izumo Taisha
Matsue Castle
Iwami Ginzan (UNESCO)
Adachi Museum garden

When to Go

The San'in coast is wet and grey through winter, with steady rain rather than deep snow near the sea and January highs around 9°C; the inland hills do get snow. Kamiarizuki, the divine gathering at Izumo, falls in the tenth lunar month, which lands in November, and the shrine's rites through that week are the main annual event. Summers are humid and hot in the low 30s°C. The Adachi Museum's garden is composed to be seen through windows and is deliberately good in all four seasons, snow included. Spring and autumn are the easiest for the Iwami Ginzan walking routes.

Getting Around

There is no shinkansen on this coast. The usual approach is the Sanyo Shinkansen to Okayama and then the Yakumo limited express north to Matsue, about two and a half hours, or a flight into Izumo Airport, roughly an hour and a half from Haneda. The overnight Sunrise Izumo sleeper runs from Tokyo and is a genuine option. Locally the JR San'in line links Matsue, Izumo and the west, but it is slow and infrequent; the private Ichibata line also runs from Matsue to Izumo Taisha. Iwami Ginzan needs a bus from Odashi Station and is then walked or cycled. A car is the sensible choice for anything off the coastal line.

Local Food

Izumo soba is served cold in stacked round lacquer dishes called wari-go, with the sauce poured over the noodles rather than the noodles dipped, and the buckwheat is milled with the husk so it comes out dark. Lake Shinji supplies shijimi, small brackish-water clams, in a miso soup that Matsue drinks at breakfast. Nodoguro, the fatty rockfish of the San'in coast, is grilled and is the local luxury. Matsue was a tea town under its last daimyo, so wagashi shops there are unusually good and pair with matcha in the castle-side teahouses.