Shimane Japan's most rural prefecture. Review.
Should you ever ask ChatGPT which prefecture in Japan is the most rural, two prefectures will be named. Two prefectures that ironically border one another. Ultimately, ChatGPT will tell you that Shimane is indeed the most rural prefecture in all of Japan. So, let's dive into my experience in Japan's most rural prefecture.
A long weekend was upon me, and I had little idea of how to spend it, but I wanted to do something. I asked ChatGPT for ideas to help me formulate a plan, and after asking where is cheap and fun, it suggested Yamaguichi. It wasn’t too far from Saga and would let me say id visited Honshu over the weekend. Yamaguchi is a prefecture I had already visited, and I could explore it more in depth. However, a wilder question popped into my mind. At some point last year, I’d asked Google Maps how long a trip to Shimane would take, and although pricey, it suggested a route via Hiroshima. But this would defeat the ‘keep it cheap’ challenge I’d given ChatGPT, as the Shinkansen certainly isn’t cheap.
I asked again if reaching Shimane by local trains was even possible, half-expecting to hear I had better odds of winning a lottery I never entered. To my astonishment, the answer was yes. An improbable, almost reckless, yes. Apparently, things had shifted since last year, when every map insisted the train and bus route would swallow up 11 hours. That seemed impossible, especially since Osaka, even farther away, was only a six-hour bus ride. Still, the idea of using my three days to chase this wild possibility was too tempting to ignore. Maybe I was being naïve, or maybe the sheer length of the journey just felt surreal. After all, in the UK, you can drive from the southern tip to the top of Scotland in under eight hours.
After asking ChatGPT to break the journey down so I could see the changes, prices, and how long each section would take, I eventually had a rough itinerary planned. It was crazy, but it was doable. And should the railway that connects all of Shimane’s coastal towns perform, it would be by no means impossible. Shimane stretches along the back of Honshu, facing the Sea of Japan. It is very mountainous, making it a dream hiking location or scenic road trip.
There are many anime that depict very rural locations, such as Non-Non Byori, a personal favorite that represents the aspects of the slice of life genre very well. So much so that episodes feel like they seemingly never end. Depicting a very small rural village with a school with only 5 students. They are all taught in the same classroom, learning from different textbooks from only one teacher. The emptiness of a full school that once housed hundreds slowly gathering dust is a very real situation where the population has moved or declined until there are no children anymore. It depicts houses so spread out that walking between them takes a very long time. Often in the hellish Japanese summer, the show very quickly drills the sounds of summer into the viewer’s head. There is a lone family-run sweet shop somehow still in business despite the only customers being the main protagonists. In a later season the big giant convenience store finally lands a good half hour walk from the main houses. Picture this, and you will be closing in on what a lot of Shimane looks and feels like.
Seemingly never-ending forest/jungle stretches as far as the eye can see. Decaying old buildings fall into disrepair, dotting the landscape, slowly being reclaimed by nature. Overgrown pathways no longer in use lead nowhere. Small hamlets with only a handful of livable houses are nestled away, surrounded by a sea of green. Everyone owns cars; this prefecture is inaccessible without the use of a car. The one railway I mentioned, the part where I added extra foreshadowing about a trip being doable only if it ran, ended up closed for an entire day during my visit because of rain. The railway line is considered beautiful and a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It snakes along the coast through sleepy hamlets and dramatic rural geography. However, it’s a one-track line that indeed takes about 6 hours to ride from the start to the capital of Shimane.
This wouldn’t have been an issue in the UK, as we are known as the home of the replacement bus rail. To the point it has become an in-joke and a tell-tale factor to see if someone is truly British. However, JR West is not in the UK, and no replacement bus was offered. Thus, my tight schedule that was doable over three days became a nightmare. It was the first time since living in Japan that I truly believed I’d be stranded. Shimane is hands down beautiful; it has coastal stacks, a beautiful Jurassic coastline, places where you can see the sediment layers in the rock faces, and beautiful rural beaches. It’s a prefecture that, had I been driving, would have ranked a lot higher. However, if you are reliant on public transport this prefecture is not friendly.
There are small towns dotted along the coast that the train stops at, ranging from a handful of houses to only one road. There are local buses that make a trip once every three hours or so, looping to connect small sections of towns to one another. Making progress towards the capital seems impossible if you are not on a train or willing to change buses multiple times. The buses are infrequent, and Google Maps will lie to you. At one point I thought hell was nearly over, I waited at the bus stop to see the bus turn away and make a new loop reconnecting on the same road miles ahead, leaving me stranded at an old bus stop that had been retired but not updated on Maps.
The Japanese summer was fierce, and there were few areas of shade to take a break. During my Shimane fiasco, I ended up walking about 25 miles. Taxis were unheard of unless you were in larger towns, and then many would refuse to drive to other areas. Mainly due to the landscape and the fact that several toll roads exist in the area.
Most of the buildings along the railway route are domestic homes or closed businesses that may have closed sometime in the 80s. Small shrines dot the landscape, really giving the vibe of being spirited away. Time seemed to stand still during the long periods of walking.
Shimane’s capital is in the northeast near the border of the second most rural prefecture on the list. Tottori, however, is rural for different reasons that I hope to write about one day. I never made it to the capital of the prefecture, getting as far as Izumo, a smaller city on the west side of the lake where the airport can be found. Now, if you’re wondering, why not take a plane?… It's local only, and nothing but private planes seem to fly into the prefecture.
This prefecture's geography makes it easily the most rural prefecture due to the mountainous terrain in the south; most of the towns are forced along the coast, which is only served by that single-track rail. The buses are infrequent and do not run the entire length you will have to change multiple times. Once you get to the bigger city and capital, it’s a 4-hour train to Hiroshima or a highway bus.
Overall, Shimane takes the crown as the most rural prefecture. If you ever want to escape, go on a long scenic road trip, go extreme wilderness camping, hike or go boating or fishing on the sea, this is the prefecture for you. The prefecture has stunning scenery, and the light pollution is low since very few people live there. Do not attempt this prefecture if you have a time limit. It’s simply not enough, even if the train is running, it's infrequent and very slow. Whilst many rural prefectures have higher placements on my list of rankings, these have reliable transport routes. Shimane doesn’t have that, and it raises the question, is there a point where something is too rural to be enjoyed? I was unable to enjoy the scenery because I was low-key panicking about being stranded. I was unable to enjoy any local cuisine because I was forced to stay in a business hotel and a love hotel. Both of which I arrived very late to due to transport issues and walking. There were no places along the road that offered food, even convenience stores vanished during the longest section of walking.
Overall, my experience in Shimane was overwhelmingly a negative one despite its beauty. It is a prefecture I am glad to have ticked off, but I will not be rushing to revisit at any point. I feel like I have had the real rural Japan experience and do not need to re-experience it. In the end, the trip ended up ballooning in costs as I had to rely on buses and taxis. I was forced to take a highway bus as the train line was out and returned to Kyushu via shinkansen. The answer to the question, can you reach Shimane from Saga via local train is yes. However, the real question is, should you? Or even why would you want to? Just because it’s possible does not make it a good idea.
