Hamada City

Rock cracks here look like tatami mats.

Iwami Tatami-ga-ura, Kokubu-cho

Photo by Suikotei (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Jado, the Snake Body of Iwami Kagura

A snake-body prop for kagura, born in the Meiji era,is now a Hamada City cultural asset.

Photo by pattio(投稿者編集) , Japanese (CC BY 3.0)

Jado, the giant articulated snake body used in the Orochi dance of Iwami Kagura, is made by pasting washi paper onto a bamboo frame, an idea inspired by paper lanterns. Born in Hamada City in the 1900s, the technique was designated an intangible cultural asset of Hamada City on July 27, 2023. A third-generation craftsman still keeps the same materials and methods alive today.

Designated by Hamada City on July 27, 2023
Originated in the 1900s (Meiji era)
Made of bamboo and washi paper

02 ／ Sekishu Banshi Paper

Sekishu Banshi paper is pulpedwithout removing the kozo's inner bark, for strength.

Sekishu Banshi paper is known for its distinctive process: kozo (paper mulberry) bark grown for three years is pulped without removing its soft inner skin. Designated a National Important Intangible Cultural Property in 1969, it also became part of UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list "Washi, Craftsmanship of Traditional Japanese Hand-Made Paper" in 2014. Artisans in Misumi-cho, Hamada, still hand-pulp it using the nagashi-zuki method.

Designated a National Important Intangible Cultural Property in 1969
Kozo bark grown for three years
Kept alive by artisans in Misumi-cho (三隅町)

03 ／ Hamada Castle Ruins

Defeated by the Chōshū army,the Hamada domain burned its own castle and retreated.

In 1620, Furuta Shigeharu, the first lord of the Hamada domain, began building Hamada Castle. In July 1866, defeated by the Chōshū domain during the Second Chōshū Expedition, the Hamada domain chose to burn the castle themselves and withdraw. Though its main tower and other buildings were lost, the stone walls from the inner to outer baileys still remain, and the site is now known as a cherry-blossom spot.

Construction began in 1620
Castle burned and abandoned in 1866
Stone walls from the inner to outer baileys remain

Living here

The city spans from the Sea of Japan to the Chugoku Mountains.

about 50,000 people

Hamada City lies in western Shimane Prefecture, stretching from the Sea of Japan coast to the ridge of the Chugoku Mountains, with an area of 690.64 square kilometers. In 2005, the city merged with the towns of Kanagi (金城町), Asahi (旭町), and Misumi (三隅町) and the village of Yasaka (弥栄村) to form today's Hamada. Mimata Onsen, in the Kanagi area, is known as a hot spring for beautiful skin, and nodoguro and other fish landed at Hamada Port are marketed as the "Donchicchi" trio.

People living here: 54,592people
Area: 690.64km²
Households: 24,370households
Rent (average for rentals): 37,576yen
Healthcare: 4 hospitals ／ 59 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Population from 2005 onward (municipal boundary changed).2005-10-01 に新設合併（金城町・旭町・弥栄村・三隅町）。2005年調査から市域が変わっている。

Children waiting for childcare: —28 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy: —
Average annual temperature: —

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Hamada City in Japan34.899°N 132.080°E

to OsakaHighway bus395min

Travel times follow JRバス中国公式「浜田道エクスプレス101号」の路線ページの時刻 (checked 2026-09-26). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 4 municipalities across 1 prefectures.

Territory of Hamada City

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

29.2km

Shimane Prefecture: 益田市, 江津市, 邑南町
Hiroshima Prefecture: 北広島町

Hamada City isthis kind of town.

01Hamada is a city on the Sea of Japan coast in western Shimane, known for Iwami Tatami-ga-ura, a National Natural Monument. Its wave-cut rock shelf formed when strata some 16 million years old were uplifted.
02Jado, the giant snake body used in the Orochi dance of Iwami Kagura, is a technique born in Hamada in the early 1900s and designated a city intangible cultural asset in 2023.
03Sekishu Banshi paper, handed down in Misumi-cho, and the ruins of Hamada Castle, whose lords burned it themselves rather than surrender, both keep the city's history and craftsmanship alive.

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Hamada City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗