Shimane by numbers

or, everything you ever wanted to know about Shimane (but were afraid to ask)

I live in Shimane Prefecture. It's not a well known place, in fact I had lived in Japan for 2 years before I had even heard of it.

Shimane Prefecture, along with the other 46 Prefectures, was created in 1871 when the Meiji government redrew the political boundaries. Shimane was formed by combing the 3 former provinces of Izumo, Iwami, and the Oki Islands. These old provincial identities remain strong today which is why I rarely mention Shimane, rather Iwami, Izumo, or the Okis.

The size of Shimane is 6,707 sq. kilometers. which makes it the 18th largest prefecture. It is roughly the same size as the county of Devon in England, or the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah.

Shimane has a population of roughly 761,000, making it the 2nd least populated prefecture.
That is roughly equivalent to the population of Devon. Actually that figure is probably a little smaller as it is a few years old and Shimane continues to depopulate. People are still moving to the big cities, and as far as I can tell the reason is often for work and "convenience"! Not exactly sure what convenience is, but personally I don't find indentured servitude and rabid consumption at all convenient!

The population density is 114 people per square kilometer, which is the 4th least densely populated prefecture. (compare that to Tokyo, with a population density of more than 100 times that)

79% of Shimane is forest. Almost none of it is original forest, and this century an awful lot of cedar and cypress plantations have been planted. Being mostly forest, and not heavily populated is probably why Shimane often has the most bear sightings per year in Japan.

Shimane has the cheapest building land prices in Japan. The average cost is 27,000 yen per square meter (approx $250), and as that is the average it means much cheaper building land can be had.

This is my house. I'm not going to give you the price, suffice it to say it cost the same as one years rent for the tiny apartment we lived in in Kyoto. The house is more than 10 times larger than the apartment. Actually, because of Japans strange property market the house was free, we just paid for the land. The house is more than 50 years old which means in japan it has no value.

It is what could be called a "fixer-upper", but perfectly habitable when we moved in. Since adding insulation and a woodstove it is very comfortable, and I am gradually renovating and remodelling it.

Slideshows of Japan

Thanks to the wonders of digital camera technology, it's now possible to take thousands of photos at almost no cost!

And I do!

Rather than take individual photos, my main interest is in slideshows. Over at my ipernity site (ipernity is similar to flickr, but better) I currently have more than 14,000 photos, most of them of Japan, organized into 158 slideshows.

One of my favorite activities is to go somewhere I've never been before and walk around taking photos of whatever my eyes are drawn to. That is usually the content of each slideshow, with the sequence arranged chronologically.

For example, I've recently posted several blogs on Aquas Aquarium. The photos were taken from 2 visits I made to the aquarium.

If you are interested, I suggest grabbing a beverage, putting on some music, and sitting back and coming along with me as I explore.

click on the link, and the controls for the slideshow (pause, full screen, etc) are easy to figure out.

An afternoon at the aquarium (125 photos)


2 hours around Aquas (133 photos)

Actually you can click on almost every photo in my blog and it will take you to the slideshow it is a part of.

January harvest.

Kabetsu, known as cabbage in English, grow most of the year. It took me a few years to realize that without using chemical pesticides they all got eaten by butterfly caterpillars. Now I grow them under net :). Grated cabbage is included with many Japanese meals and in this form its called cabbage salad. Considering how common a vegetable it is in gardens and on plates I was really surprised to learn that it was not introduced into Japan until quite recently, during the Meiji Period.

Negi, known variously as green onion, spring onion, scallion, etc in English. They grow all year round. They are used extensively in Japanese cooking, either by cutting off the green tops, or by pulling the whole onion. They originally came from Siberia and were introduced about 1,500 years ago.

Still harvesting lots of lettuce, spinach, and carrots.

Finally got round to shelling the black beans. They've been hanging to dry for a couple of months. They are edamame allowed to mature completely. The plants grew plenty big enough, but most of the pods were empty. Need to do more research (i.e. talk to the neighbors) as I need to grow a bigger crop of legumes.

C.W. Nicol has a nice article in the Japan Times this week on country living in Japan. Japan has been plagued with food scandals recently, mostly caused by Japanese business ethics (or lack thereof), and with other factors contributing, the price of food is getting higher. I'm quite jealous of his parsnips and swedes! I have grown them here, but not very successfully. Maybe the climate and weather up in Nagano is more condusive to them.

Typical Japanese Landscape 13

Near Kaminoseki, on the southern coast of Yamaguchi Prefecture.

More Japanese Landscapes

Inside Aquas

When I went inside Aquas Aquarium I didn't actually spend a lot of time looking at the fish! I wandered around looking at the light and space for shots to photograph.

The cafe area is glass and steel, so easy for a cliche shot!

The windows high up in the "fin" and ceiling were cool.

The building was designed by Nikken Sekkei Company, who I recently learned also designed the Fukuoka Tower.

I'm a sucker for circular windows, and Aquas has them in internal walls as well as external.

More post on Aquas

New Year

Best wishes to you all for this New Year !

I'm not going anywhere today!... gonna stay next to the woodstove!

New Year in Japan

My first experience of New Year in Japan was in Kyoto. We decided to visit the nearby Shimogamo Shrine a little after midnight for hatsumode, the first shrine visit of the year. We left home about 11.45 planning on getting to the shrine after midnight. After walking for a while I asked Yoko what the time was and she told me it was 00.05!!... I had been waiting for the noise to mark the new year, but it was totally quiet. Every country I have ever lived in marks the turning of the year with noise,... fireworks, church bells, car horns, boat horns, or people cheering and singing, but in Japan....nada!

I had never been to Shimogamo shrine before, so I was looking forward to looking around. Hah! fat chance!... to say it was crowded would be an understatement. The throng was so tightly packed that I could easily have lifted both feet off the ground and been carried around by the shuffling masses.

Next year we decided to do hatsuhinode, watching the first sunrise of the year. We went down to Shionomisaki, the southernmost tip of the Wakayama Peninsular, the southernmost point of Honshu. We slept out on the cliff along with a couple of dozen other people, and were joined in the pre-dawn light by several hundred others. It was a cloudy morning, so not particular memorable.

My best experience of New Year in Japan was a couple of years ago.

I'd heard about a mountain behind Arifuku, Honmyozan, that people went to to watch the first sunrise, so we contacted friends who live in Arifuku to ask where the trail up the mountain was. Very kindly they contacted the ujiko (parishioners group) of the small shrine on the mountaintop, and they offered to take us up there with them.

We got to the top around 22:00, built a big fire, then settled into the tiny shrine to drink sake and eat wild boar stew caught by some of the hunters in the group.

A few hours before sunrise more people started to arrive after having climbed the mountain in the dark.

By sunrise about 40 people were gathered together in the freezing cold. The sunrise was worth waiting for as it was a cloudless sky. The views from the mountain were impressive.

We came down the mountain through the sun-dappled forest.

Not sure what we'll do this year. It snowed all day yesterday, and a thick blanket of white still covers the ground.

Susuharae

Priests at Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine perform Susuharae.

Susuharae, or susuharai, refers to the year-end housecleaning that all "good" Japanese housewives are busy with right now, but the term has an older meaning specifically relating to shrines.

Susu is commonly translated as "dust", but actually refers to a form of spiritual pollution ( tsumi, kegare) that collects particularly in corners. Here the priests are using long pieces of bamboo as brushes to sweep away the susu from the front of the main hall at the shrine in preparation for the new year.

I visited several shrines last weekend in Fukuoka, and they were all busy getting ready for the expected influx of visitors for the first visit of the new year, often the busiest day of the year at many shrines.

Itsukushima Shrine, Setogashima, Hamada

Setogashima is a tiny island in the harbor of Hamada. The Itsukushima shrine is the only shrine on the island. The three sisters enshrined here (daughters of Susano) are known to be protectors of fishermen, so Itsukushima shrines are common in fishing villages.

The 3 home shrines of the Munakata sisters are located in north west Kyushu, one on the mainland, and the other 2 on 2 small islands. The Munakata clan were responsible for protecting the sea lanes between Kyushu and the Korean peninsular.

The shrine has no secondary shrines within its precincts, and no kagura den, so for matsuri they use the nearby Shimoyama Inari Shrine. The channel seperating Setogashima from the mainland is only a stones throw wide, so a small bridge connects it, but still a huge multi-million dollar bridge was constructed.

It's actually a very quiet, picturesque fishing village of a few dozen houses, and as one of the main harvests in this area is squid, it's not surprising to see squid drying in the sun.

Jinmen (god mask)

Jinmen, or kamimen, are the standard masks for most of the male characters in Iwami Kagura, excluding the very old, Susano, and the demons.

Variations in the mouth, eyes, eyebrows, and facial hair can make the character younger or older, or sterner.

Hachiman, Yamato Takeru, Tenjin, and all the other assorted warriors and aides will use variations of this mask.

Iwami Kagura Mask index