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Iwami

  • Ohda
  • Gotsu
  • Misato
  • Kawamoto
  • Ohnan
  • Hamada
  • Masuda
  • Tsuwano
  • Yoshiga

An English guide to the
beautiful Iwami region of JapanIwami is in the western part of Shimane, a rural prefecture on the Sea of Japan,
geographically remote from the larger cities, and cut off from the nearest major city
of Hiroshima by the Chugoku mountain range. This is old, rural Japan.

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Recommended contents

Experience

From noodle making, traditional weaving, throwing pottery, rice planting, or risking your life on a wild boar hunt.

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Cooking Experience at Kumagai House Visitors to Iwami Ginzan canexperience Japanese traditional cooking in the kitchen ofKumagai Family House. T...(read more)
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Kiunsou At night, Yunotsu looks like something straight out of Studio Ghibli's 'Spirited Away.' Traditional inns and...(read more)
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Grand Toit Grand Toit is an arts center in Shimane. Both the roof and outerwalls of Grand Toit use roof tilescalled Sek...(read more)
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Arifuku Arifuku onsen or hot spring is a small village, just a collection of streets really, lined with retro hot sp...(read more)
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SAHIMEL The Shimane Nature Museum of Mt. Sanbe “SAHIMEL” How many people know which is the highest mountain in Sh...(read more)
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Hamada Children’s Museum of Art This is the biggest museum in Hamada. There are many pictures and most of them are displayed at children's eye leve...(read more)
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Grand Toit Grand Toit is the compound institution; museum and theater. In Iwami Art Museum, you can enjoy many kinds of Art at 4 ex...(read more)
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Hamada Castle Museum Hamada Castle Museum introduces the history of the castle and the nearby port of Tonoura, which is recognized as a Japan...(read more)
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Kannanmiji temple (Iwami 33 Temple Pilgrimage) Kannamiji Temple is the 11th on the Iwami 33 Temple Pilgrimage.It's in the Kawamoto area of Gotsu city and was...(read more)
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Hot Spring after skiing? There are some nice places for onsen near Osa Ski Resort. The nearest onsens are at Kinta no sato and Geiho...(read more)
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Shimane Nature Museum of Mt. Sanbe, SAHIMEL This is thenatural history museum at Mt. Sanbe in Ohda city. Mt. Sanbe is an active volcano. In this museum, yo...(read more)
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Hot springs in Tsuwano Tsuwano Onsen Nagominosato Nagominosato is in the road side station which is located on Hagi-Tsuwano Station Line (萩津和野...(read more)

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Restaurant & Cafe

Everything from freshly caught seafood to organic buffets, freshly ground coffee, and wild boar meat.

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Nemu no ki (Hikimi) (森の洋食屋さん ねむの木) Mori no yo-shokuyasan Nemu no ki” (森の洋食屋さん ねむの木) is a restaurant named after a tree. This restaur...(read more)
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Maruco & Isseiro MARUCO (マルコ) is an Italian restaurant in Misumi, Hamada. Near Misumi city hall, you will find a lovely building which ha...(read more)
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Koharu Biyori Koharu Biyori (小春日和) is a café located in Masuda, which opened on January 15th, 2015. It looks like an old J...(read more)
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Gamu Gamu is a cafe. It takes about one minute on foot from Hamada station to Gamu. If you come out of the station and tur...(read more)
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Shinyu Café Kuranojo No trip to Japan is complete without sampling the local cuisine. Plenty of little restaurants in the Iwami region have...(read more)
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Hotel Matsuo Hotel Matsuo offers traditional Japanese dishes, using Hamada's localingredients. You can enjoy Japanese tr...(read more)
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MameMame Dining Mamemame dining is located on the left where go straight from Hamada station's main entrance. “Mame” m...(read more)
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Mamechaka & Apli Mamechaka and Apli are small but cute cafes on the edge of Honmachi where you can still see old buildings. These two are...(read more)
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Kaede Gelato Kaede Gelato(楓ジェラート)is an Italian gelato shop located in Misumi. It opened in 2013. You can choose from m...(read more)
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Ani no kitchen "Ani no kitchen"has varied menus and you can enjoy eating fish or meat, tempura and so on. Not onl...(read more)
Chinese Cooking Karamomo
Chinese Cooking Karamomo When you come to Iwami, you can also enjoy other Asian cuisine. Karamomo is a delicious Chinese restaurant in Hamada, wh...(read more)
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Yuki:traditional Japanese restaurant Tsuwano is a must-see on any vacation in the Iwami region in Japan. This 'little Kyoto' of Shimane is bu...(read more)

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HamadaDetails

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Scenery

Hike the Chugoku mountain trail, see ancient temples, enjoy green tea in a traditional garden, or photograph terraced rice paddies.

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33 temple pilgrimage Check out the video of our day trip to 7 of the 33 temples on the Iwami Silver Mine Kanon 33 temple pilgrimage. Many t...(read more)
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Saishou Temple This temple was founded in 1465. The temple in existence was rebuilt in 1739. This temple has some statues on the roo...(read more)
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Jinguji (Iwami 33 Temple Pilgrimage) This quiet place surrounded by many trees is the original location of Jinguji tmple.It is located across a small b...(read more)
Hidden Gem in Iwami Region
Hidden Gem in Iwami Region In one corner of peaceful Oda City, you’ll find a hidden gem: Oni-Iwa Rock. Away from the noise of busy town, this...(read more)
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Misumi shrine ...(read more)
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Kotogahama  When you visit Japan for vacatipn, a trip to the countryside allows you to see a dofferent side of country. Iwami is far...(read more)
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Otome Chapel Otome Chapel (乙女峠) (photo copyright by Ojisanjake) Iwami region is home to one of Japan's 'little Kyo...(read more)
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Hori teien Tsuwano is a must-see on any vacation in the Iwami region in Japan. This 'little Kyoto' of Shimane is bursting w...(read more)
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Senganji temple (Iwami 33 Temple Pilgrimage) Senganji temple is located at the top of a small mountain in theKawamoto area of Gotsu. This temple was establis...(read more)
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Enjoji Temple (Iwami 33 Temple Pilgrimage) Enjoji Temple (written圓城寺 in Japanese) is also known as Reichinzan (霊椿山) or mountain of the sacred camellia. There is a ...(read more)
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Ryougonji Temple (Iwami 33 Temple Pilgrimage) Ryougonji Temple (written 楞厳寺 in Japanese) is the 27th on the Iwami 33 Temple Pilgrimage. It’s located in Yunotsu ...(read more)
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Youmeiji Tsuwano has outstanding shrines and temples, incredible festivals, hot springs, sake breweries, a Christian hist...(read more)

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World Heritage

Iwami boasts both a World Heritage site in the Iwami Silver Mine and an intangible asset, Sekishu hand-made paper.

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Kazenokuni ( paper making experience) In Gotsu city, in the town of Sakurae, there is a nature park and leisure facilities called Kazenokuni. The Kazenokuni c...(read more)
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Takanoji Temple ( Iwami 33 Temple Pilgrimage) If you enjoy walking, we recommend Takano temple, about 20 minutes by taxi from Yunotsu station in Iwami region. The mai...(read more)
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Cooking Experience at Kumagai House Visitors to Iwami Ginzan canexperience Japanese traditional cooking in the kitchen ofKumagai Family House. T...(read more)
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Enpukuji Temple (Iwami 33 Temple Pilgrimage) If you want to see a visual representation of the last judgement, you should visit Enpuku-ji temple in Ohda, Iwami regio...(read more)
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Kakita Katsuro Mask Workshop Iwami Kagura is traditional dance in Iwami region and performers wear Kagura masks for the performance rather than make-...(read more)
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Iwami 33 Temple Pigrimage Have you ever heard a pilgrimage to the Iwami Kannon 33 Temples Pilgrimage? All the temples are located in Iwami region ...(read more)
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Iwami Ginzan Library This beautiful building is Iwami Ginzan Library, our university's satellite campus in Iwami Ginzan. This library ...(read more)
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Sekushu-Washi Kaikan Sekishu-Washi Kaikan(石州和紙会館)” is a place where we can experience making washi and learn culture and history of Sek...(read more)
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Okubo Mabu Mine Shaft Tour Although there are at least 600 entrances to the silver mine, only a few are open to the public. Tours to the Okubu min...(read more)
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Omori Omori is a traditional noodle restaurant in Iwami Silver Mine. There's a retro feel to the building, with its old-fa...(read more)
Iwami Ginzan museum
Iwami Ginzan museum Iwami Ginzan is a historic silver mine in the mountains of Shimane, Japan. The preservation and revitalization of Iwami ...(read more)
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Seisuiji Temple SeisuijiTemple is a Shingon Buddhist temple, and is a notable place in the history of Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine, wh...(read more)

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