Day trip to Ohda (world heritage site, lunch, hot spring)

Iwami Ginzan World Heritage Center

Iwami Ginzan is a UN World Heritage site in the mountains of Shimane, Japan. During the sixteenth century, it was one of the largest silver mines in Japan, and one third of all the silver in circulation at that time was said to have come from this mine.

You can take a bus here from Oda City station. It takes about 40 minutes. This museum explains Shimane’s UNESCO World Heritage Site, Iwami Ginzan or silver mine. Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine was registered as a World Heritage site on 2nd July 2007.

In this center, you can learn about silver in Iwami, the history of Ginzan, how it was extracted, the lifestyles of the workers, and how the silver mines led to trade with Europe. Also you have the opportunity to see the old silver ingots, pottery and so on.

According to the official website, the remains of the Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine are located near the Sea of Japan. One of Japan's most prominent mines, Iwami Ginzan was active for almost four hundred years.

We were really impressed. Ginzan is a very nice place, steeped in history but also full of cafes and nice little stores. And if you have the chance to go to Omori town, I really recommend you to rent a bike and go cycling. You can take a loop bus from the World Heritage Centre to Omori, for about 200 yen. The rental bike shop is right next to the bus stop.

The rental rates for bikes are 500 yen per 3 hours (ordinary push bikes) / 700yen per 2 hours. (electric-powered bicycles)

The information below is copied from the Heritage Centre’s official website. Please check it for more up-to-date information.

If you can’t understand Japanese, you can use a file which explains the displays in English. Ask for it at the front desk in the building, there are exhibits which show the history of Iwami Ginzan, and silver coins. There are not only ordinary displays which you can’t touch but many touchable ones. For example, there is a quiz where you can answer the questions about Iwami Ginzan on computers, and a 30 kg of silver bar which you can try to lift. You can also watch a video which shows you how the people extracted silver in 16^th century.

Iwami Ginzan World Heritage Center（石見銀山世界遺産センター）

TEL:0854-89-0183 FAX:0854-89-0089 (Japanese only)
ADDRESS:1597-3 I-Omori Oda　（大田市大森町イ1597-3）
8:30am~ 5:30pm (Close on the last Tuesdays, the year-end and New Year)
*You can only enter in the exhibition room on 9:00am~4:30pm.

Admission fee: 300 (250) yen/ adult (group)
150 (100) yen/ child (group)
200 yen/ foreign tourist

http://ginzan.city.ohda.lg.jp/usr/leaflet/lang-en.pdf(☜This site is written in English)

Iwami Ginzan is a UN World Heritage site in the mountains of Shimane, Japan. During the sixteenth century, it was one of the largest silver mines in Japan, and one third of all the silver in circulation at that time was said to have come from this mine.

When you come to Japan on vacation, you must try local Japanese food. Iwami is on the sea of Japan coast, and it's famed for its seafoood. On the main street in Iwami-Ginzan, you can find a really cool variety store with a nice atmosphere called "Gungendou" (群言堂). They sell clothes, shoes, glasses, dishes, post cards...and so on. They also have a restaurant inside the store. In the restaurant, you can eat really unique delicious dishes which you cannot eat at an ordinary restaurant. They are also healthy too, using many vegetables. All of dishes are about 1000 yen. There is a display gallery upstairs, and in early summer 2014  you could see decorations made from bamboo. Here are some pictures.

The address：183 Ohmori, Ohdashi, Shimane, Japan

Important Information : Opening hours From 10AM to 6PM.
Closed on New years holiday
Tel. (0854)89-0077 (Japanese only)

(written by Narumi)

When you visit Japan for a vacation, a trip to the countryside allows you to see a different side of the country. Iwami  Ginzan, a UN World Heritage Site, is far off the beaten track, the nearest big city is Hiroshima, but  it can be accessed via Hagi-Iwami airport from Tokyo, JR buses from Hiroshima, and JR trains. Not many overseas tourists make the trip, which is shame because Iwami is old authentic Japan. It might not be the easiest place to get to, but Iwami Ginzan is worth seeing. This sleepy little village was once home to tens of thousands of people. Now there are  cafes,  galleries, silver shops, traditional inns, old temples and shrines, and a guided tours.

Ryugenji Mabu is one of mine shafts which is open to the public. It takes about 40 minutes on foot from Omori bus stop or you can reach it in about 20 minutes if you rent a bicycle. It costs 700 yen to rent an electric bicycle. On the way, you can see beautiful scenery

The length of Ryugenji Mabu is about 600m. It’s a little cool there.  If you go in summer, make sure you have a jacket.  Flat shoes are a good idea too. The roof is low so you should use caution when you walk there. You don't get a helmet so watch out!

Also, you can see  rock strata and the old mine shaft.

・Admission fee
Adult 410 yen /elementary or junior high school students 200 yen
・Open: 9 a.m. ~ 5 p.m.
・Tel: 0854-89-0347 ( Japanese only)
(written by Nori)

When you visit Japan for vacatipn, a trip to the countryside allows you to see a dofferent side of country. Iwami is far off the beaten track, the nearest big city is Hiroshima, but it can be accessed via Hagi-Iwami airport from Tokyo, JR buses from Hiroshima, JR trains, and even an old ateam train. Though Yunotsu (温泉津) is famous for its hot springs (温泉onsen) as its name implies, Motoyu (元湯) is a special onsen, even for Yunotsu village. There is an interesting story attached to this hot spring.

1300 years ago, a priest who was traveling around Japan visited Yunotsu. There he saw a mountain with forests of Japanese cedar and, on the top of the mountain, there was a small house under a big Japanese cedar tree. The priest stayed at the house for one night and the next day he went down the hill. When he got to the foot of the mountain, he saw a raccoon dog which had an injury. The tanuki (raccoon dog) was in a small pond and licking its injury. The priest watched it from the bushes for a while and after it was gone, he walked over to the pond. Surprisingly, its water was hot. He told many people on his travels about the injured tanuki and how the hot spring waters had healed it, so this hot spring become famous as an onsen town which could cure injuries or disease. For more than a 1000 years, this story helped spread the word about Motoyu onsen to all of Japan, and thus it became the first famous onsen in Yunotsu village.  Because the tanuki helped this hot spring to be discovered, there is a raccoon dog on the top of the Motoyu onsen building.

Even now, Motoyu is famous as the oldest hot spring in Yunotsu and its ability to cure disease and many people from all over Japan come and enjoy the hot spring here. The color of the water is brown and the heat is about 47.C ( It changes every day). The onsen water contains salt and minerals so you can smell and taste them. You can even drink the onsen water at a place across the street from the Motoyu hot spring. There is Japanese style inn, Tyo-mei-kan(長命館) next to the onsen drinking place. The fee is from 7,350 yen to 10,500 yen for one-night stay with meals for evening and morning.

When you go to the Onsen(温泉Hot spring), please pay 300 yen to the female staff who sit in the center of the building, and then women go to the right and men use the left side. There are lockers with a key, so put all your belongings in a locker and lock it. Then you can enjoy the hot spring.

Some things you should pay attention to when you bathe: First, the water contains salt and minerals and they make your hair hard to manage, so if you have long hair you had better tie your hair up and not soak it in the water. Second, there are no showers and no hair dryers. Lastly, please rinse your body with water from bath tub before you enter the tub to relax, and you cannot take a towel with you into the tub. The temperature of the water is hot in each of the three main tubs, but the water temperature varies in each tub. From left to right, there is a shallow tub (for sitting), a hot tub (about 46 degrees C), and a hotter tub (48.C).

There are more Onsen in Yunotsu, so keep these rules in mind and enjoy the hot springs!

Motoyu

Address: 208-1, Ro, Yunotsu, Yunotsu town, Oda city, Shimane

Tel: 09855-65-2052

Parking lot: free

Holiday: irregular

Business time: 5:30 am ~20:20

Fee: 300 yen(adult), 150 yen(child), 350 yen (for towel)

Yuki.U