Omori Iwami Ginzan Shimane Guide
Omori in Shimane Prefecture is part of the Iwami Ginzan UNESCO World Heritage Site and has a Preserved District of Edo Period buildings.
Omori, Iwami Ginzan 大森の町並み,石見銀山
Jake Davies
The top end of Omori, a well preserved mining town from the Edo Period
The picturesque village of Omori, part of the Iwami Ginzan World Heritage Site
Omori, situated along a narrow valley below mountains that once contained massive amounts of precious silver, was where the silver mines were administered from. It is a part of the Iwami Ginzan World Heritage Sites.
Omori, below Iwami Ginzan in Shimane Prefecture is a Preservation District for Historic Buildings
A view over the rooftops of Omori, an Edo Period mining town
History
In a now sparsely populated area of Japan, the mine and the lands around it had, at their peak, a quarter of a million souls laboring in the mines or supplying the mines.
Before becoming a World Heritage Site in 2007 it had been registered as a Preservation District for Groups of Historic Buildings, and as such is actually one of the best examples of a preserved historical district for several reasons.
Firstly is its size. Omori is basically just a single street, but it stretches for almost two kilometers, and while there are a few modern buildings scattered throughout, pretty much all you can see in the distance are historic buildings.
Secondly, it is mostly traffic free so you can relax as you wander along the street. It's hard to imagine an older time with noisy trucks and cars whizzing past you.
Thirdly, and perhaps most unusually, the power and telephone lines have all been buried so there are no tangle of wires and poles that are so ubiquitous and ugly in Japan.
Omori was a mining town, but it was not a town of miners. The miners lived in ramshackle hovels up in the mountains where the mines were.
Omori was a town for the samurai administrators of the mine and for the merchants who supplied the mine. At the bottom of the village, furthest from the actual mine, are the largest and grandest buildings. Here is the former Magistrates Office, now a history museum.
When the Tokugawa came to power in the early 17th century, one of the first things they did was take over all the mines in the country. The magistrates were the agents of the shogunate, and hence the most powerful men in the area.
Iwami Silvermine Museum
51-1 Omoricho, Oda-shi, Shimane 994-0305
Tel: 0854 89 0846
Open 9 am to 5 pm everyday. Closed over the New Year.
500 yen for adults, 200 yen for kids.
Not far from the former magistrates office is the Kumagai Residence, a huge mansion compound belonging to the wealthiest merchant family in the area. Recently renovated and now open to the public, the many rooms and buildings of the residence are filled with historic artifacts and displays and is well worth a visit.
Kumagai Residence
63 Omoricho, Oda-shi, Shimane 694-0305
Tel: 0854 89 9003
Open 9.30 am to 5 pm. Closed the last Tuesday of the month and over the new year.
500 yen for adults, 200 for kids.
A little further up the street is the Former Kawashima Residence, the home of a middle ranking samurai family. Much smaller than the Kumagai Residence, it too has displays of historical artifacts including example of typical meals served. Viewing both the Kumagai and Kawashima residences gives a good comparison between the lifestyles of wealthy merchants and not so wealthy samurai.
Former Kawashima Residence
118-1 Omori-cho, Oda-shi, Shimane 694-0305
Tel: 0854 89 0932
Open 9 am to 4:30 pm, 7 days a week
200 yen for adults, 100 yen for kids
There are a few eateries scattered around the village, as well as some shops: a bakery, a Post Office etc, but most of the buildings in Omori are residences.
Shrines & Temples in Omori
People still live here and it's not yet very touristy, which is part of its attraction. As with any Japanese village or town there are of course shrines and temples. As far as temples go, the area around the mine was once home to several hundred temples. The life expectancy of miners was very short and there was an enormous need for funerals, but many of these temples have now closed and disappeared, but still you will pass by several in the village itself.
A couple of hundred meters up the side road next to the museum is Shogenji with a large, impressive gate with carvings. The inside of the temple has things to see but is now only open on weekends.
About halfway up the street is Kanzeonji up some stairs leading to a rocky outcropping with views across the rooftops of the village. The Nio guardians in the gatehouse are worth seeing, and there are another couple of temples along the main street, but the one most worth visiting is at the top of the village.
Rakanji itself is nothing special, but across the street are several small stone bridges across a stream that lead to caves carved into the rockface by miners within which are statues, of the Rakan, the disciples of the Buddha, that are often found in groups of 500.
Rakanji
804 Omoricho, Odashi, Shimane 694-0305
Tel. 0854 89 0005
Open 9 am to 5 pm.
Adults 500 yen, kids 300 yen
The main shrine of the town is at the bottom of the main street not far from the former magistrates building. Kigami Shrine has a fairly large main hall and spacious grounds that are pleasant in the autumn, but its most notable feature is the painting of a dragon on the ceiling. It is said that if you stand under it and clap your hands you will hear an echo. To this end the main hall can be entered, unlike most shrines.
Bridges cross to caves hollowed out of the rockface that contain statues of the 500 Rakan at Rakanji in Omori, Shimane Prefecture
Ceiling painting of a dragon at Kigami Shrine in Omori, Iwami Ginzan
Access
The nearest train station to Omori and Iwami Ginzan is Odashi on the Sanin Line, 4 hours from Okayama Station in Okayama and 5 hours from Osaka. It is also 3 hours by highway bus from Hiroshima Station.
From Odashi Station there are regular buses that run to Iwami Ginzan World Heritage Center, a few kilometers outside of Omori, but a good place to visit first to help plan your visit. The bus stops at Omori on the way and there are shuttle buses from the center to Omori. The closest airport is Izumo, with regular flights to and from Osaka, Tokyo, Nagoya and Fukuoka.
At the small bus terminal at the bottom of Omori are numerous eateries and a place to rent bicycles. At the top end of Omori is an information kiosk and a car park.
The Iwami Ginzan Kaido walking trail connects Omori with Yunotsu.
