The Chugoku region's largest aquarium is the Shimane Aquarium Aquas, at the Iwami Seaside Park just a short stroll from the Japan Sea coast.
The aquarium has a wonderful collection, including a huge shark tank with a glass tunnel running through it. An artificial tide pool is a favorite with child...
The architecture, gardens and exhibits of the world famous Adachi Art Museum offer an aesthetic banquet to visitors. The building itself draws you on past a superb collection of modern Japanese art, including about 130 pieces by the Yokoyama Taikan, a pioneer in the Nihonga movement which sought to...
Lake Shinji, or Shinji-ko, is Japan's seventh largest, and connected by a lagoon to the Japan sea. As a result, the lake hosts a bounty of marine life. In Matsue, Shimane's prefectural capital, travelers flock to sample Kyodo ryori, an assortment of seven dishes drawn from the waters of the lake. ...
On July 2nd, 2007, UNESCO formally granted World Heritage Site status to the Iwami-Ginzan Silver Mine near Ooda city in central Shimane prefecture.
From its opening in 1526, Iwami Ginzan was one of the world’s most productive silver mines for 400 years. It's believed that at the mine’s peak Japane...
The architecture, gardens and exhibits of the world famous Adachi Art Museum offer an aesthetic banquet to visitors. The building itself draws you on past a superb collection of modern Japanese art, including about 130 pieces by the Yokoyama Taikan, a pioneer in the Nihonga movement which sought to...
On July 2nd, 2007, UNESCO formally granted World Heritage Site status to the Iwami-Ginzan Silver Mine near Ooda city in central Shimane prefecture.
From its opening in 1526, Iwami Ginzan was one of the world’s most productive silver mines for 400 years. It's believed that at the mine’s peak Japane...
Only twelve of Japan's feudal era castles have survived intact to the present day, and in Matsue you can see the largest of these. Matsue Castle was completed in 1611 for the use of the local lord Horio Yoshiharu. The castle is also called the Plover Castle for its color and proximity to water.
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Matsue Vogel combines one of the world's largest indoor gardens (about eight thousand square meters) with an aviary to display flowers and birds from across the globe. On hand are thousands of varieties of blossoms, stacked in pyramids, arrayed in patterns on the ground and hanging overhead. The g...
Only twelve of Japan's feudal era castles have survived intact to the present day, and in Matsue you can see the largest of these. Matsue Castle was completed in 1611 for the use of the local lord Horio Yoshiharu. The castle is also called the Plover Castle for its color and proximity to water.
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Matsue is sometimes called the Water City, or Shimane's Venice, because of its location on Lake Shinji and the city's ample system of moats built for defense and transport. Today, one of the best ways to view the city is to board one of the low, narrow pleasure boats that cruise the largest moat as...
Silver mining was extremely grueling work, especially in the deep shafts of Iwami-Ginzan. Local lore says that special celebrations were held for those miners who reached the age of 30.
Completed in 1766 after a 25 year construction effort, Rakanji temple is set in a cave in the mountainside outsid...
Just beyond Matsue Castle's northwest gate, a beautiful stretch of old samurai homes stretches 500 meters along the curving, tree lined bank of the northern moat. Several of the homes are open to the public, giving visitors a feel for the daily life of the samurai families who served in feudal Mats...
Just east of Matsue, the island of Daikonshima is home to Yuushien, a classical Japanese circuit style garden. The island is Japan's leading producer of peonies, and visitors who come in May will be treated to the sight of thousands of gorgeous blossoms. Of course, other flowers come into season t...
The town of Omori shares its history with that of the nearby silver mine. The town's basic layout dates to the magistrate Takemura Tangonokami's relocation of the magistrate's offices to the current location. The town was shaped during the Edo Period, with government offices and quarters for housi...
The little town of Yunotsu was once a prosperous port for the shipment of silver from Iwami Ginzan. Today it's primarily a fishing port and hot springs town, small but intensely atmospheric, with the scenic road winding up from the port to the hot springs wide enough for a single car and lined with...
