Nima Sand Museum

Nima Sand Museum Japan

I have posted on the Nima Sand Museum before, but it was a long time ago, and the posts no longer have photos. It is one of the local architectural attractions that hasn't closed down, though I believe it is not making money.

A nearby beach, Kthahama, is famous for having "singing sand", that is to say it squeaks when walked on. The local mayor decided this was a good enough reason to oen a unique museum devoted to sand.

The museum is toed with a series of glass pyramids which make it easy to spot when passing nearby. In fact it is said that the architect made the tallest pyramid tall enough so that it could be seen from his mother's grave.

Shin Takamatsu is one of my favorite Japanese architects, and being a local man Shimane has quite a few of his buildings, which often feature simple geometric forms, though the structure closest to this one is probably Seirei, a Buddhist "chapel" near Osaka.

If you are wondering what a sand museum could display, the answer is "not a lot". Its main feature is the worlds largest sand timer, which I will show next.

I visited at the end of my third day walking the Iwami 33 Kannon pilgrimage. Day 4 would see me heading up from Nima into Iwami Ginzan.

Ema