Morning in Tokyo, lunch in Masuda: ANA flies direct from Haneda twice a day. Waiting for you are the gardens of the great painter Sesshū, a river without a single dam, Iwami Kagura and hot springs in the mountains. Japan as it is when nobody is watching.
Placeholder · photo: Shimane Kanko Navi (グラントワ02). Will be replaced by original photos and videos once commissioned.
Questions about planning your trip, where to stay or Masuda in general? I live in Shimane and can help you directly, in German and English.
Twice a day direct from Tokyo Haneda, a flight of about ninety minutes.
Two of the four great gardens attributed to the painter Sesshū.
Not a single dam, and repeatedly ranked Japan’s cleanest river.
Myths on stage, with masks, drums and giant serpents made of washi paper.
2× daily Direct flight from Tokyo Haneda, about 90 minutes.
Placeholder · photo: Shimane Kanko Navi (萩・石見空港05). Will be replaced by original photos and videos once commissioned.
While millions of tourists stream through Kyoto and Tokyo, in Masuda you sit alone in front of a garden laid out by a master more than 500 years ago and hear nothing but the water. In the afternoon you eat ayu from the Takatsu River, in the evening you watch Kagura.
Here Japan is still everyday life, not a backdrop for tourists.
In the west of Shimane Prefecture on the Sea of Japan, with its own airport, Hagi-Iwami.
Open in Google MapsBase map: Global Map Japan, Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (modified)
Everyone travels differently. Here everyone finds their own Japan.
The Sesshū gardens, the Iwami Art Museum in the Grand Toit and a landscape that looks painted itself.
Direct flight from Tokyo. Even with only a few days, you are quickly away from the crowds.
A sandy beach, a clear river to swim in and one of the safest corners of Japan.
The Hikimi Gorge with emerald-green pools, azaleas in spring and autumn colours.
Iwami Kagura, shrines to the poet Kakinomoto no Hitomaro and temples with 500 years of history.
You dream of Japan, of gardens, temples and silence, but earthquakes are always at the back of your mind? Then Masuda is your answer.
“Shimane lies on the quiet side of Japan, away from the major earthquake zones along the Pacific.”
Source: Japan Meteorological Agency (気象庁), annual table of earthquakes by prefecture, 2021 – PDF
Japan’s major earthquakes originate off the Pacific coast. Shimane lies on the other side, on the Sea of Japan, and felt earthquakes are much rarer here.
Japan’s major tsunamis originate in the Pacific. On the Sea of Japan the risk is much lower, but not zero. Like every coastal town in Japan, Masuda has signposted evacuation routes.
Clean, safe, quiet. Children can play by the river and on the beach, and Japan still offers everything you came for.
Placeholder · photo: Shimane Kanko Navi (医光寺07). Will be replaced by original photos and videos once commissioned.
Sesshū, Japan’s most famous ink painter, is said to have spent his last years in Masuda. Two of the four great gardens attributed to him are here, at the temples of Iko-ji and Manpuku-ji. You sit on the veranda and look, nothing more.
Placeholder · photo: Shimane Kanko Navi (安富橋05（高津川）). Will be replaced by original photos and videos once commissioned.
The only major river in Japan without a single dam, repeatedly rated by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport as the river with the best water quality in the country. In summer it gives you ayu, a freshwater fish eaten in Masuda grilled with salt.
Placeholder · photo: Shimane Kanko Navi (高津柿本神社(人麿公像)). Will be replaced by original photos and videos once commissioned.
The greatest poet of the Man'yōshū, Japan’s oldest anthology of poetry, lived around the year 700. Nobody knows for certain when and where he was born. By tradition Masuda is his birthplace, and two shrines here are dedicated to him.
Placeholder · photo: Shimane Kanko Navi (グラントワ06). Will be replaced by original photos and videos once commissioned.
The prefecture’s arts centre with an art museum and a theatre, designed by Hiroshi Naito. Around 280,000 red Sekishu tiles from the region cover its roofs and walls. The building alone is worth the visit.
Placeholder · photo: Shimane Kanko Navi (裏匹見峡（紅葉）01). Will be replaced by original photos and videos once commissioned.
The front section alone, Omote-Hikimi, is four kilometres long: emerald-green pools, azaleas in spring, colourful leaves in autumn. A section of the Chūgoku Nature Trail runs along the gorge.
Placeholder · photo: Shimane Kanko Navi (美都温泉 湯元館01). Will be replaced by original photos and videos once commissioned.
In the mountains lies Mito Onsen, a small spa village with soft, alkaline water. On the coast, the sandy beach of Mochiishi is perfect for swimming in summer and for sunsets over the Sea of Japan all year round.
Some guests fall in love with Shimane and want to come back, for a few months a year or longer. Across the prefecture, many traditional houses stand empty, waiting for new residents.
I support you from the first question to the key: choosing a house, 360-degree online viewing and support in German, together with licensed local real-estate agents.
Learn moreMy own house in Hamada, once an akiya (empty house).
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