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Shimane Prefecture (島根県 Shimane-ken) is a prefecture of West Japan located in the Chūgoku region on the main Honshu island. The capital is Matsue. It is the second least populous prefecture in West Japan, after its eastern neighbor Tottori. 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. It is divided into the Izumo Region in the East, the Iwami Region in the West and the Oki Region, a small group of islands off the northern coast. 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 Shimane Prefecture has a population of 641,103 people.

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

Economy[]

In Shimane, the largest employer is the retail industry, employing over 60,000 workers. The supermarket, Mishimaya, and the hardware store, Juntendo, are examples of companies based in Shimane. The manufacturing industry has the second number of employees with 49,000 workers. The retail industry has over 12,000 locations within the prefecture, the most of any industry.

29% of the total industry income in the Prefecture is from the service industry, which includes retailers. The manufacturing makes up 13% of the total industry income.

Geography[]

Topography[]

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. Another major landform is the Shimane peninsula. The peninsula is located across the Sea of Japan from Izumo to Sakaiminato, which 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 the main island of Honshū, the island of Oki is in Shimane prefecture as well. The island itself is in the Daisen-Oki National Park.

As of April 1st 2012, 6% of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks, namely Daisen-Oki National Park; Hiba-Dōgo-Taishaku and Nishi-Chūgoku Sanchi Quasi-National Parks; and eleven Prefectural Natural Parks.

Most major cities are located either on the seaside, or along a river.

Climate[]

The prefecture has a sub-tropical climate. Winter is cloudy with a little snow, and summer is humid. The average annual temperature is 14.6 degrees Celsius. It rains almost every day in the rainy season, from June to mid-July. The highest average monthly temperature occurs in August with 26.3 degrees Celsius. The average annual precipitation is 1799 millimeters, higher than Tokyo's 1467 mm and Obihiro with 920 mm.

Cities and Towns[]

Cities[]

  • Gōtsu
  • Hamada
  • Izumo
  • Masuda

  • Matsue (capital)
  • Ōda
  • Unnan
  • Yasugi

Towns[]

  • Iishi District
    • Iinan
  • Kanoashi District
    • Tsuwano
    • Yoshika

  • Nita District
    • Okuizumo
  • Ōchi District
    • Kawamoto
      • Misato
    • Ōnan

  • Oki District
    • Ama
    • Chibu
    • Nishinoshima
    • Okinoshima
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