Continued from
Part 1....
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| Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine |
Tune In Nagoya introduced and explained in our previous post some essentials of of Shimane Prefecture: Matsue Castle, Adachi Museum of Art, Izumo Taisha Grand Shrine, with brief summaries of legendary myths and beliefs associated with these places.
Part 2 introduces one UNESCO World Heritage Site in Shimane Prefecture, namely 1) Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine. Also among several famous Onsen (hot spring) resorts, 2) Yunokawa Onsen and Sagino Yu Onsen will be reported with some pictures. TWO Shimane's delicacies, very unique and yummy buckwheat noddles called Izumo Soba (Izumo buckwheat noodles) and Shimane wine are shown as well.
1) Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine
Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine, one of the
UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Japan, is located about 50 kilometers west from I
zumo Taisha Grand Shrine (see in our previous post). This Mine was active from the 16th century on to the 20th century. It produced high quality silver and played an influential role in politics and economics around 16th and 17th centuries.
Samurai warriors, who competed each other to rule all over Japan, fought to possess this Silver Mine. Surely, getting this Mine was the very key to their wealth and then political power. Indeed, in 1600 I
eyasu Tokugwa
won control of this Mine and founded
Tokugawa Bakufu (English: Tokugawa Shogunate), ruling all over Japan (the Edo Period, 1600 to 1868). The influence of this Silver Mine was beyond Japan to Asia and Europe, with silver coins made from this Mine used for international trades. Back then, Japan was named "
Silver Mine Kingdom." Can you believe this?
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| A Replica picture taken at Iwami Ginzan World Heritage Center |
When the silver production was at its peak, house were lined up like this, along the valleys in high mountains in I
wami Area (as shown in the next picture).
There are many mines in
Iwami Area, two of which are famous and available to visitors:
Okubo Mabu (English:
Okubo Mine) and
Ryugenji Mabu (
Ryugenji Mine, in the center of the above picture).
Okubo Mabu is the largest, but requires being on a one-full-day tour with a lot of hiking. In contrast,
Ryugenji Mabu provides a chance to walk or bike-ride in nature while enjoying "Buke" (English: samurai warriors houses)and "Machiya" (English: townhouses) houses preserved from the Edo Period (as shown below). Pictures in Part 2 are taken in exploring
Ryugenji Mabu.
How to 1) viist and 2) explore Ryugen ji Mabu (Ryugen ji Silver Mine)
1) You have to drive or go to
Iwami Ginzan World Heritage Center, where you should take a bus. To save this World Heritage site, going by car is strictly regulated. All the visitors MUST take a bus from the Center and walk or bike to explore two parts of the Mine site; "Buke/Machiya" District and "Silver Mine" District.
2)
Two entry points by bus: Omori (大森) Bus Stop and
Omori Daikansho Ato (大森代官所跡) Bus Stop. From either Stop, you can start your excursion, but we STRONGLY recommend bike rental (
auto-assisted bikes, if possible) from Omori Daikansho Ato Stop.
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| Omori Daikansho Ato Bus Stop |
"Buke" and "Machiya" houses from Omori Daikansho Ato Bus Stop to OMoro Bus Stop:
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| 3 Kilometers up in the mountains to reach Ryugenji Mabu |
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| Daikan (Ensligh: Samurai Guard's) House |
The purple Noren (English: a curtain) at the gate has family crests (white circle ones).
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| Buke Yashiki (Samurai warriors' houses) |
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| A sweet shop along the Buke Yashiki street |
Can you see square lanterns in front of the houses? They carry family and/or shop names and lit at night.
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| A coffee shop in this Buke/Machiya district |
This coffee shop sells gifts as well as coffee and tea. This is almost a midpoint when you start from Omori Daikansho Ato Bus Stop before reaching the Mine. It is a good idea to take a coffee break here!!!
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| The entry point to Go Hyau Rakan (5 hundred stone figures) |
Go Hyaku Rakan is for the souls of those who died in mines. Miners could earn a lot of money, but they had to sacrifice their health and ended up with pretty short life, as you can easily imagine, due to the hard work in harsh working environments. Most are said to have died before 30, about 10 years younger than the average back then.
From Omori Bus Stop, you can walk or bike up to the entrance of Ryugenji Mabu:
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| A Path leading to the Silver Mine entrance |
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| An entry point for hiking in the woods |
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| The entrance of Ryugen Ji Mabu (Silver Mine) |
Near this entrance, there is a ticket booth (to the right).
The following pictures show the inside of
the Ginzan Silver Mine. Beyond the entrance, it is really really cool (in summer) and cold (in winter).
The inside is dark and moist, so low grass and moss grow on the spot where the sun light sheds light comes in.
Some parts inside have very short and narrow holes like the one.
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| The remain of a refinery |
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| A shrine located near the Refinery |
We strongly recommend you visit Iwami Ginzan World Heritage Center before or after exploring Iwami Ginzan Area to learn its historical backgrounds and how people back then lived. Though this place is not easy access from the City of Izumo, it is worth coming west down to visit. We wish we could visit and learn more about Okubo Mabu (the biggest silver mine).
2) Yunokawa and Sagino Yu Onsens
Yunokawa Onsen (Yunokawa Hot Spring)
Shimane is famous for various Onsen throughout the Prefecture. Among these Onsen,
Yunokawa Onsen is known as one of
the three best Onsen for beautiful skin IN JAPAN, not just in Shimane, and has a long history with the oldest myths. In contrast with
Tamatsukuri Onsen, which is also famous and closely located to Yunokawa Onsen,
Yunokawa Onsen has natural hot spring water. We strongly recommend Yunokwa Onsen over Tamatsukuri Onsen if you expect to have beautiful skin. The following pictures were taken at
Yumoto Yunokawa Inn.
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| The entrance of Yumoto Yunokawa Onsen Inn |
Sorry that you cannot see the letters attached to the big barrel with the roof. They say that "this is the hot spring for beautiful skin".
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| An approach to their three private baths |
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| Three doors are the entrances of private baths |
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| One of the three PRIVATE baths |
You can sign up for these three baths upon your arrival. The above picture shows what the
Hinoki Bath looks like. Hinoki is a kind of tree which has a soothing smell, so when you soak your body in the wooden bathtub, your stress will surely be gone!! Also, you do not have to worry about getting naked with other people. It is a private bath, not a public bath (shown below)!!
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| A public bath in the Onsen inn |
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| Dinner |
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| Chopsticks "otemoto (おてもと)" and chopsticks rest (the stone rabbit) |
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| Some other dishes served for dinner |
Fig Tempura (Deep-fried Figs) on the left plate was pretty unique and delicious.
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| Breakfast Dining Hall |
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| Breakfast |
Shizimi (English: a kind of clam), which Shinjiko (English: Lake Shinjiko) is famous for, is in the miso soup (brown broth in the right).
Sagino Yu Onsen (Saginoyu Hot Spring)
Sagino Yu Onsen is located very close to Adachi Museum of Art. This Sagino Yu So ( さぎの湯荘), with its beautiful gardens and interiors in Japanese-style motifs, knows how to welcome visitors with splendid hospitality. From the entrance (the picture below), you may find difficulty in imagining how deep and spacious this inn is, but once you have ONE step in through the entrance, you will surely be captured by a lot of characters and charms.
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| The entrance of Sagino Yu So |
Neatly arranged slippers welcome you!! Do one pair of slippers, which are NOT perfectly aligned, add some character to this picturesque entrance??
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| A beautiful garden near the entrance |
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| You can sit on these comfortable couches while checking in |
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| Hanging curtains and a long recption table |
While waiting for check-in procedures done, you can enjoy complimentary coffee, viewing a beautiful garden in front of you.
Manjyu (below) also quietly waits for your arrival in your room.
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| Manjyu (English: Wagashi) |
Dojyo Sukui Dance (Humorous dance capturing the moment of scooping slippery Dojyo, a loach, or a sort of "freshwater" eel) inspired the making of this sweet. The thing with blue dots signifies a Japanese towel which is to be put around the face when dancing.
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| An open-air PRIVATE bath |
Is this open-air bath great with the dried rock garden nearby? The hot spring water is mild. We could feel the nice breeze and almost dozed off in the water!!! We know! it is very dangerous, but we could not stop because it was SOOOO relaxing.
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| An open-air public bath |
Can you guess which one is for which?
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| Noren (English: curtain) shows that this is for men |
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| Noren shows this is for women |
Guess easily which one is which, based on the colors of Noren, right?
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| A public bath inside, not open-air |
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| dinner |
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| A list of dishes |
Isn't is fancy that all the dishes are listed on a scroll-like paper? For authentic places like this Onsen inn, this is a pretty standard practice.
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| A Coffee/Tea Place inside the inn |
Shimane's Delicacies: Izumo Soba (Buckwheat Noodles) and Shimane Wine
Izumo Soba:
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| A restaurant called Jindai Soba (神代そば) near Matsue Castle |
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| Izumo Soba with chicken (hot) |
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| An authentic Izumo Soba (cold) |
The blue container in the upper-left is a sort of sauce for buckwheat noodles. Green onions, dried bonito, and dried seaweed (black one) are seasoning for the noodles.
Shimane Wine:
Shimane is also famous for wine-making. This
Simane winery is located near
Izumo Taisha Grand Shrine.
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| Sparkling wine, "tying knots (縁結)" written on its label |
Is this a sort of blessed water? Once we drink this wine, we will get blessed that every kind of knots is tied??? Everthing will go well for sure!
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| Wine--tasting corner in the winery |
What do you think of Shimane Prefecture? Do you still think this Prefecture deserves the notorious reputation of the least popular tourist destination? We hope that you can experience the places introduced in our two posts and find it out. Good luck!! It is your turn to get blessed!!!
Our blog post on another famous shrine in Shizuoka Prefecture might interest you. You will get empowered by Kiyomiya-jijya Shrine.
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