Oda City

Chisel marks still scar the tunnel wall.

Ryugenji Mabu, Iwami Ginzan

Photo by Wakuwaku99 (Public domain)

01 ／ The Singing Sand of Kotogahama

Fine sand flecked with tiny shellssqueaks with every step.

Kotogahama, in Oda's Nima district, is a beach about 1.4km long. Flecked with tiny shells, the sand squeaks like a koto (Japanese harp) underfoot, known as "singing sand." It was designated a national natural monument on October 13, 2017. Legend says a princess who drifted ashore after the Battle of Dan-no-ura once played the koto here, and the sand has sung ever since.

About 1.4km of beach
National natural monument since Oct. 13, 2017
Princess Koto legend

02 ／ The Townscape of Yunotsu

A hot-spring port townthat grew as Iwami Ginzan's outer harbor.

Yunotsu, in Oda, is a hot-spring port town with roots in the medieval era. It developed as the outer harbor of the Iwami Ginzan silver mine and was designated an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings in 2004. Townhouses, inns, and temples built from the late Edo to early Showa eras still line its steep valley.

Designated a preservation district on July 6, 2004
Type: "port and hot-spring town"
Grew as Iwami Ginzan's outer harbor

03 ／ Sanbe Azukihara Buried Forest

Cedars buried in volcanic ashstill stand as they once did.

An eruption of Mt. Sanbe buried a forest from the late Jomon period, about 3,500 years ago. Cedar trunks up to 150cm across and 50m tall still stand upright underground, roots intact. Since May 2003, the site has been open to the public as Sanbe Azukihara Buried Forest Park.

Forest buried about 3,500 years ago
Cedars up to 150cm across, 50m tall
Open to the public since May 2003

Living here

Steep mountains meet a 46km coastline.

about 30,000 people

Oda sits near the center of Shimane Prefecture, facing the Sea of Japan. Steep Chugoku mountains cover most of its 435.34 square kilometers, leaving little flat land, and its coastline runs 46km. In 2005, the former Oda merged with Yunotsu and Nima to form today's city. Small sights tied to Iwami Ginzan dot the city too, including the 501 stone Rakan statues at Rakanji Temple and Mononobe Shrine, Iwami Province's ichinomiya (leading shrine).

People living here: 32,846people
Area: 435.34km²
Households: 13,343households
Rent (average for rentals): 38,764yen
Healthcare: 2 hospitals ／ 36 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（温泉津町・仁摩町）。2005年調査から市域が変わっている。

Children waiting for childcare: —17 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.

Shape

Borders 5 municipalities.

Oda City in Japan35.192°N 132.499°E

Territory of Oda City

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

30.4km

美郷町, 出雲市, 川本町, 飯南町, 江津市

Travel times per leg are not published by the municipality, so they are not shown.

Oda City isthis kind of town.

01Oda is known for Ryugenji Mabu, a tunnel of the Iwami Ginzan (石見銀山) World Heritage silver mine. Chisel marks from its working days still scar the tunnel walls.
02Kotogahama beach, in the Nima district, is known as "singing sand" that squeaks underfoot; it was designated a national natural monument in 2017.
03Also here are the townscape of Yunotsu, which grew as Iwami Ginzan's outer harbor, and Sanbe Azukihara, a Jomon-era forest still buried standing as it once was.

See the town as it is now.

Source: Wikidata (P2002, P2003, P2013, P2397)

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Oda City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗