About Iwami no Kuni
Surrounded by the beautiful countryside scenery, attractive foods, and passionate traditional performing arts.
Photos：Ai Nishimura
The Sea, the Mountains, and the Rivers. You can have all the magnificent and beautiful nature.
One of the attractions of Iwami no Kuni is that you can enjoy all three types of nature: sea, mountains, and rivers.
The beaches of the Sea of Japan have a beautiful contrast between the deep, clear blue colors of the sea and the white sandy beaches.
The mountains change color with every season and offer trekking and outdoor sports.
The rivers have a variety of beautiful valleys in their upper reaches and nurture all sorts of life in the beautiful clear water.
This is a feature of Iwami no Kuni. You can enjoy all of these beautiful natural wonders in one trip.
The sound of the waves, the murmuring of the rivers, the scent of the plants and trees ... If you let your five senses flow with nature, the stress and fatigue of everyday life will disappear.
Traditional performing arts, world heritage and old houses. A wonder that the old one is new.
There is lots of “old” stuff in Iwami no Kuni.
For example, the traditional performing art of Iwami Kagura expresses the world of mythology with dynamic dances and rhythmic music.
The ruins of the Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine, a World Heritage Site, with its magnetic and nostalgic townscape and the remains of a once flourishing silver mine.
The red-tiled roofs that adorn the villages of farming and fishing communities.
Ohda City is a town in Iwami no Kuni and is frequently ranked in the “Best place to live in the country” of Rural Life published by Takarajima-Sha.
Many old houses, which were built almost 100 years ago, and the culture of this region, where old things are carefully passed down to younger generations, are now fresh in the eyes of people living in urban areas.
The reason why the area is called Shimane, Land of the Gods.
A place where you feel you have an unfathomable power.
Shimane Prefecture, where Iwami no Kuni is located, is called the Land of the Gods as eighty percent of the gods enshrined nationwide are derived from Shimane according to one theory.
There are many energy vortices in the Iwami region of Shimane Prefecture.
Shrines, such as the Taikodani-Inari Shrine, lined with thousands of torii, and Mononobe Shrine, the highest rank shrine representing the Iwami area.
The Otome Toge Maria Chapel, the sacred site where legend has it that the Virgin Mary descended.
You can visit the shrines and Buddhist temples or see the gods moving in front of you. That is Iwami Kagura.
The mythical world of Susano-no-mikoto, Ebisu, and Amateraus Omikami dance in front of you, and then mysteriously, your whole body will be filled with energy.
Relish the bounty of the sea, mountains, and rivers nurtured by fantastic nature
The pride of Iwami no Kuni, the beautiful sea, mountains, and rivers produce delicious food.
In the basin of the clear Takatsu River, you will find natural ayu (sweet fish), fantastic wasabi (Japanese horseradish), and giant clams of the highest quality.
At Hamada port, fresh seafood such as azi (horse mackerel), nodoguro (shore dotterel), and kaley (flatfish) are caught every day.
Good quality meats, such as beef, pork, and chicken, raised in a natural mountainous area, delicious rice grown in traditional rice terraces.
These are all things that could not be produced without the pure natural environment.
Some rare ingredients are not distributed in the markets in other areas, and there is no end to the number of people who come from far away to taste them.
From Tokyo to Iwami no Kuni
