Shimane Prefecture

Shimane Prefecture
Japanese: 島根県 Shimane-ken
Capital	Matsue
Region	Chūgoku
Island	Honshū
Governor	Zenbei Mizoguchi
Area (rank)	6,707.29 km² (18th)
- % water	2.7%
Population  (October 1, 2000)
- Population	761,503 (46th)
- Density	114 /km²
Districts	7
Municipalities	21
ISO 3166-2	JP-32
Website	www1.pref.shimane.lg.jp/contents/ kokusai/kokusai-e/index.html
Prefectural symbols
- Flower	Moutan peony (Paeonia suffruticosa)
- Tree	Japanese black pine (Pinus thunbergii)
- Bird	Whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus)
- Fish	{{{Fish}}}
Symbol of Shimane Prefecture
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Shimane Prefecture (島根県, Shimane-ken^?) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region on Honshū island. The capital is Matsue. It is the second least populous prefecture in Japan, next to the Tottori Prefecture that is a neighboring prefecture on the east side. The prefecture has an area elongated from east to west facing the Chūgoku Mountain Range on the south side and to the Sea of Japan on the north side. Most of the cities are near the shoreline of the Sea of Japan. Izumo Taisha in Izumo City is one of the oldest Shinto shrines in Japan.

The Oki Islands in the Sea of Japan are also part of Shimane Prefecture, which also claims to have jurisdiction over the South Korea-controlled island of Liancourt Rocks (Takeshima).

Contents 1 History 1.1 Early history 1.2 Middle Ages 1.3 Modern times 2 Geography 2.1 Cities 2.2 Towns and villages 2.3 Mergers 3 Climate 4 Transportation 4.1 Airports 4.2 Rail 4.3 Roads 4.3.1 Highways 5 Economy 5.1 Companies based in Shimane 5.1.1 Manufacturing 5.1.2 Financial 5.1.3 Others 5.2 Major factories 6 Demographics 6.1 Population by age 7 Culture 7.1 Universities in Shimane Prefecture 8 Tourism 9 Prefectural symbols 10 See also 11 References 12 External links

History

Early history

The history of Shimane starts with the Japanese mythology. Shinto god Ōkuninushi was believed to be living in Izumo, an old province in Shimane. Izumo Shrine, which is in the city of Izumo, honors the god.^[1]　At that time, the current Shimane prefecture was divided in to three parts: Iwami, Izumo, and Oki. That lasted until the abolition of the han system took place in 1871. During the Nara period, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro read a poem on Shimane's nature when he was sent as the Royal governor.^[2]

Later on in the Kamakura period, Kamakura Shogunate forces emperors Gotoba and Emperor Godaigo to exile to Oki. Emperor Godaigo later gets away from Oki and begins rallying against the shogunate, which later succeeds.^[3]

Middle Ages

During the Muromachi period, Izumo and Oki were controlled by the Kyogoku clan. However, after the Ōnin War, the Amago clan expanded power based in Gassan-Toda castle and Masuda clan dominated Iwami province. Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine was located between Amago clan territory and Masuda clan territory, so there were many battles between these lords for the siver of vast quantity. However, in 1566 Mori Motonari conquered Izumo, Iwami, and Oki.^[3] After over 30 years of Mori control, in 1600 Horio Yoshiharu enters Izumo and Oki as the result of Battle of Sekigahara which Mori lost. Following the change, Horio Yoshiharu decides to move to build Matsue Castle instead of Gassan-Toda, and soon after Yoshiharu's death the castle is completed. Later in 1638, the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu, Matsudaira Naomasa enters the castle since the Horio clan had no heir, and his family ruled until the abolition of the han system. The Iwami area was split in to 3 clans: The mining district (direct control of the Shogunate), the Hamada clan and the Tsuwano clan. The Iwami Ginzan, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site produced silver and was one of the nation's largest silver mine by the early 17th century. Hamada clan was on the shogunate's side in the Meiji Restoration, and the castle was burned down. The Tsuwano clan, despite the Matsudaira (relative of the shogun) rule was on the emperor's side in the restoration.^[4]

Modern times

In 1871, abolition of the han system places the old Shimane and Hamada provinces in the current area of Shimane Prefecture. Later that year, Oki becomes part of Tottori. In 1876, Hamada Prefecture merges with Shimane and is named Shimane Prefecture. Also, Tottori Prefecture merges in the same year. However, five years later, in 1881, the current portion of Tottori Prefecture separates and the current border is formed.^[4]

Geography

Shimane prefecture is situated on the Sea of Japan side of the Chugoku region. Because of its mountainous landscape, rice farming is done mostly in the Izumo plain where the city of Izumo is located.^[5] Another major landform is the Shimane peninsula. The peninsula is located across on the Sea of Japan from Izumo to Sakaiminato, which apparently is located in Tottori prefecture. Also, the peninsula created two sea water lakes Lake Shinji and Nakaumi. The island of Daikon is located in Nakaumi. Off from the island of Honshū, the island of Oki is in Shimane prefecture as well. The island itself is in the Daisen-Oki National Park.^[5] Shimane also claims the use of Liancourt Rocks, which they are in dispute with South Korea.^[6]

Most major cities are located either on the seaside, or along a river.^[5] Between 2004 and 2005, municipalities across Japan merged, and Shimane prefecture was not an exception. For the list of mergers, see List of mergers in Shimane Prefecture.

Cities

Eight cities are located in Shimane Prefecture, the largest being Matsue, the capital, and the smallest being Gotsu. The cities Masuda, Unnan, Yasugi, and Gotsu had a slight population increase due to the mergers in the early 2000s.^[7]

Gōtsu Hamada Izumo Masuda

Cape Hinomisaki near Izumo Matsue (capital) Ōda Unnan Yasugi

Towns and villages

The number of Towns and villages greatly decreased during the mergers. However, they hold about one-third of the prefecture's population.^[7]

Hikawa District Hikawa Iishi District Iinan Kanoashi District Tsuwano Yoshika

Nita District Okuizumo Ōchi District Kawamoto Misato Ōnan

Oki District Ama Chibu Nishinoshima Okinoshima Yatsuka District Higashiizumo

Mergers

Climate

The prefecture has a sub-tropical climate. Winter is cloudy with a little snow and summer is a little humid. The year average for temperature is 14.6 degrees celsius. During the rainy season, June to around Mid July, it rains every day. The hottest average temperature is in August with 26.3 degrees Celsius. The average year preciparation is 1799 millimeters, compared to Tokyo's 1467 mm and Obihiro with 920 mm.^[7]

Transportation

Airports

Three airports serve Shimane. The Izumo Airport located in Hikawa is the largest airport in the prefecture in terms of passengers, which has regular flights to Haneda Airport, Osaka Airport, Fukuoka Airport, and Oki 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.^[8]

• Izumo Airport
• Iwami Airport
• Oki Airport

Rail

JR West and Ichibata Electric Railway serves the prefecture in terms of rail transportation. The Sanin Main Line goes through the prefecture on the Sea of Japan side going into major cities such as Matsue and Izumo.^[9] Izumoshi and Matsue stations are the major stops in the prefecture. The Kisuki line, which forks from Shinji Station on the Sanin Line, connects with the Geibi Line in Hiroshima Prefecture, cutting into the Chūgoku Mountains.^[9] Ichibata Electric Railway serve the Shimane peninsula from Dentetsu-Izumoshi Station and Izumo Taisha-Mae Station to Matsue Shinjiko-Onsen Station.^[10]

JR West has 3 Limited Express trains to Shimane, which are Super Matsukaze, Super Oki, and Yakumo.^[11]

• West Japan Railway Company
  • Sanin Main Line
  • Sankō Line
  • Kisuki Line
  • Yamaguchi Line
• Ichibata Electric Railway
  • Kita-Matsue Line
  • Taisha Line

Roads

Highways

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 Chugoku Expressway at Kita-Hiroshima and stretches to Hamada.^[5]

• Sanin Expressway
• Matsue Expressway
• Hamada Expressway
• Chūgoku Expressway

Economy

In Shimane, the largest employer is the retailing industry, employing over 60,000 workers. Mishimaya and Juntendo are examples of companies. The manufacturing industry has the second number of employees with 49,000 workers. In the number of business locations, the retailing industry is first with over 12,000.

Twenty-nine percent of the total industry income is from the service industry, including retailers. Another 13% is from the manufacturing industry.

Companies based in Shimane

Manufacturing

• Izumo Murata Manufacturing
• Shimane Fujitsu
• Mitsubishi Agricultural Machinery

Financial

• The Shimane Bank
• The San-in Godo Bank

Others

• Network Applied Communication Laboratory
• Mishimaya
• Juntendo
• Ichibata Electric Railway

Major factories

• Hitachi Metals

Demographics

One-third of the prefecture's population is concentrated in the Izumo-Matsue area. Otherwise, over two-thirds of the population is on the coastline. The reason is that the Chugoku mountains make the land inland harder to inhabit. Also, Shimane has the largest percentage of the elderly, and the capital Matsue has the smallest population out of all the 47 prefectural capitals.^[7]

Population by age

• Source：Graph 10/Prefectures Age（In Age groups）, Gender divided population－Total Population
  (Ministry of Internal Affairs Statistics Bureau)

Comparison of Population Distribution between Shimane and Japanese National Average	Population Distribution by Age and Sex in Shimane
■Shimane ■Japan (average)	■Male ■Female
2005 Census, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications - Statistics Department

Culture

Universities in Shimane Prefecture

• Shimane University (National university)^[12]
• The University of Shimane (Prefectural university)^[13]

Tourism

• Shimane Vogel Park

Prefectural symbols

The prefectural flower is the mountain peony. On the island of Daikonjima, they were grown from at least the 18th century.^[14]

See also

• Lafcadio Hearn

References

External links

• Official homepage of Shimane Prefecture
• Shimane JET Programme participants homepage
• National Archives of Japan ... Shimane map (1891)
• Adachi Museum of Art
• Masuda City Sightseeing website in English

Shimane Prefecture Cities Gōtsu | Hamada | Izumo | Masuda | Matsue (capital) | Ōda | Unnan | Yasugi Districts Hikawa | Iishi | Kanoashi | Mino | Nita | Ōchi | Oki | Yatsuka See also: Towns and villages by district

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