Matsue is the capital and largest city of Shimane Prefecture, with other major cities includingIzumo,Hamada, andMasuda.[4] Shimane Prefecture contains the majority of theLake Shinji-Nakaumimetropolitan area centered on Matsue, and with a population of approximately 600,000 is Japan's third-largest metropolitan area on theSea of Japan coast afterNiigata and GreaterKanazawa. Shimane Prefecture is bounded by the Sea of Japancoastline on the north, where two-thirds of the population live, and theChūgoku Mountains on the south. Shimane Prefecture governs theOki Islands in the Sea of Japan which juridically includes the disputedLiancourt Rocks (竹島,Takeshima). Shimane Prefecture is home toIzumo-taisha, one of the oldestShinto shrines in Japan, and theTokugawa-eraMatsue Castle.
The history of Shimane starts with Japanese mythology. The Shinto godŌkuninushi was believed to live inIzumo, an old province in Shimane.Izumo Shrine, which is in the city ofIzumo, honors the god.[5] At that time, the current Shimane prefecture was divided into three parts:Iwami,Izumo, andOki.[6] That lasted until theabolition of thehan system took place in 1871. During theNara period,Kakinomoto no Hitomaro wrote a poem on Shimane's nature when he was sent as the Royal governor.[7]
Later on in theKamakura period (1185–1333), theKamakura shogunate forced emperorsGo-Toba andGodaigo into exile in Oki. Emperor Go-Daigo later escaped from Oki and began rallying supporters against the shogunate, which proved successful.[8]
A view of Shimizudani silver mine refinery ruin, a part of UNESCO World Heritage area
During theMuromachi period (1336–1573), Izumo and Oki were controlled by theKyōgoku clan. However, after theŌnin War, theAmago clan expanded power based inGassantoda Castle and theMasuda clan dominatedIwami Province. TheIwami Ginzan Silver Mine was located between Amago territory and Masuda territory, and there were many battles between the clans for the silver. In 1566Mōri Motonari conquered Izumo, Iwami, and Oki.[8] In 1600, after over 30 years of Mori control, Horio Yoshiharu entered Izumo and Oki as the result ofBattle of Sekigahara, which Mori lost. Following the change, Horio Yoshiharu decided to move to buildMatsue Castle instead of Gassan-Toda, and soon after Yoshiharu's death the castle was completed. In 1638, the grandson ofTokugawa IeyasuMatsudaira Naomasa [ja] became the ruler because the Horio clan had no heir, and his family ruled until the abolition of thehan system.
The Iwami area was split into three regions: the mining district, under the direct control of the Shogunate, the Hamada clan region, and the Tsuwano clan region. TheIwami Ginzan, now a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site, produced silver and was one of the nation's largest silver mines by the early 17th century. The Hamada clan was on the shogunate's side in theMeiji Restoration, and the castle was burned down. The Tsuwano clan, despite then being ruled by the Matsudaira, was on the emperor's side in the restoration.[9]
In 1871, the abolition of thehan system placed the old Shimane and Hamada Provinces in the current area of Shimane Prefecture. Later that year, Oki became part of Tottori. In 1876, Hamada Prefecture was merged into Shimane Prefecture. Also,Tottori Prefecture was added in the same year. However, five years later, in 1881, the current portion of Tottori Prefecture was separated and the current border was formed.[9]
Shimane Prefecture is situated on theSea of Japan side of theChūgoku region. Because of its mountainous landscape, rice farming is done mostly in the Izumo plain where the city of Izumo is located.[10] Another major landform is the Shimane peninsula. The peninsula is located across the Sea of Japan from Izumo toSakaiminato, which is located in Tottori prefecture. Also, the peninsula created two brackish lakes,Lake Shinji andNakaumi. The island of Daikon is located in Nakaumi. Off the main island ofHonshū, the island ofOki belongs to Shimane prefecture as well. The island itself is in the Daisen-Oki National Park.[10] Shimane also claims the use ofLiancourt Rocks, over which they are in dispute withSouth Korea.[11]
Eight cities are located in Shimane Prefecture, the largest in population being Matsue, the capital, and the smallest being Gōtsu. The cities Masuda, Unnan, Yasugi, and Gōtsu had a slight population increase due to the mergers in the early 2000s.[13]
These are the towns and villages of eachdistrict. The number of towns and villages greatly decreased during the mergers. However, they hold about one-third of the prefecture's population.[13]
Shimane prefecture has a sub-tropical climate. Winter is cloudy with a little snow, and summer is humid. The average annual temperature is 14.6 °C (58.3 °F). It rains almost every day in the rainy season, from June to mid-July. The highest average monthly temperature occurs in August with 26.3 °C (79.3 °F). The average annual precipitation is 1,799 millimetres (70.8 in), higher than Tokyo's 1,467 mm (57.8 in) andObihiro with 920 mm (36.2 in).[13]
Three airports serve Shimane. The Izumo Airport located inIzumo is the largest airport in the prefecture in terms of passengers and has regular flights toHaneda Airport,Osaka Airport,Fukuoka Airport, andOki Airport. The Iwami Airport has two flights each day to Haneda and Osaka and 2 arrivals. Oki Airport has scheduled flights to Osaka and Izumo Airports.[14]
The four expressways in the prefecture connect major cities with other prefectures. The Matsue expressway connects Matsue with Unnan and Yonago in Tottori prefecture. Hamada Expressway forks from the Chūgoku Expressway at Kita-Hiroshima and stretches to Hamada.[10]
In Shimane, the largest employer is the retail industry, employing over 60,000 workers. The supermarket, Mishimaya, and the hardware store, Juntendo, are examples of companies based in Shimane. The manufacturing industry has the second highest number of employees with 49,000 workers.[citation needed]
One-third of the prefecture's population is concentrated in theIzumo-Matsue area. Otherwise, over two-thirds of the population is on thecoastline. A reason for the population distribution is that the Chūgoku Mountains make the land inland harder to inhabit. The capital, Matsue, has the smallest population of all 47 prefectural capitals. Shimane has also the largest percentage of elderly people.[13] The province had an estimated 743 centenarians per million inhabitants in September 2010, the highest ratio in Japan, overtakingOkinawa Prefecture (667 centenarians per million).[18]
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