is a city located on the coast of the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...

Shimane Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Shimane Prefecture is the second-least populous prefecture of Japan at 665,205 (February 1, 2021) and has a geographic area of 6,708.26 km2. Shimane Prefecture borders Yamaguc ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The city has a total area of 436.11 km². On March 1, 2017, the city's

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

was estimated at 34,354, giving a

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

of 79 persons per km². The city was founded on January 1, 1954. Ōda is home to the

Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine The was an underground silver mine in the city of Ōda, in Shimane Prefecture on the main island of Honshu, Japan. It was the largest silver mine in Japanese history. It was active for almost four hundred years, from its discovery in 1526 to its ...

, a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

Geography

Located in the central coastal portion of

, Ōda borders the

to the north and the

Chūgoku Mountains is a mountain range in the Chūgoku region of western Japan. It runs in an east–west direction and stretches approximately from Hyōgo Prefecture in the east to the coast of Yamaguchi Prefecture. The range also reaches under the Pacific Ocean ...

to the south. Mount Sanbe (), part of

Daisen-Oki National Park is a national park in the Chūgoku region, Honshū, Japan, and spans the prefectures of Okayama, Shimane, and Tottori. Mount Daisen is the focus of the park, which also includes the volcanic mountains and plains of Hiruzen, Mount Kenashi, Mo ...

, is a double

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

of the Hakusan Volcanic Zone, and is situated to the southeast of the city.

Neighboring municipalities

*Shimane Prefecture **

Izumo Izumo (出雲) may refer to: Locations * Izumo Province, an old province of Japan * Izumo, Shimane, a city located in Shimane Prefecture ** Izumo Airport * Izumo-taisha, one of Japan's most ancient and important Shinto shrines Ships * ''Izumo ...

** Misato ** Kawamoto ** Iinan ** Gōtsu

Economy

Ōda remains a center of agricultural production. The city is a center for

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

farms. Additionally, the city is known for its roof

tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...

industry, produced since early times as ''Iwami gawara'', or ''kawara'' Japanese roof tiles of Iwami.

Transportation

Ōda is serviced by two transportation networks. The first is

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and ...

Sanin Main Line The is a railway line in western Japan, which connects Kyoto and Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). It is the major railway line of the San'in region, approximately paralleling the Japan Sea, crossing Kyot ...

, connecting

Ōdashi Station is a passenger railway station located in the city of Ōda, Shimane Prefecture, Japan. It is operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West). Lines Ōdashi Station is served by the JR West San'in Main Line, and is located 417.2 kilome ...

to Tottori through

Yonago is a Cities of Japan, city in western Tottori Prefecture, Japan, facing the Sea of Japan and making up part of the boundary of Nakaumi, Lake Nakaumi. It is adjacent to Shimane Prefecture and across the lake from its capital of Matsue. It is the p ...

and

Matsue is the capital city of Shimane Prefecture, Japan, located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 202,008 (February 1, 2021) following the merger with Higashiizumo from Yatsuka District. Matsue is located at ...

to the east, and connecting along the coast to

Hamada A hamada ( ar, حمادة, ) is a type of desert landscape consisting of high, largely barren, hard rocky plateaus, where most of the sand has been removed by deflation. The majority of the Sahara is in fact hamada. Other examples are Negev dese ...

and

Masuda is a city located in Shimane Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on August 1, 1952. As of December 2021, the city has a population of 44,976. As of December 2019, the city has a population of 46,209. As of March 2017, the city has a popula ...

to the west. The secondary transportation network is the

Intercity bus An intercity bus service (North American English) or intercity coach service (British English and Commonwealth English), also called a long-distance, express, over-the-road, commercial, long-haul, or highway bus or coach service, is a public tr ...

. The

is the terminal, and the line runs from

Hiroshima Station is a railway station in Minami-ku, Hiroshima, Japan, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). Hiroshima Station is the terminal station for several lines, and all San'yō Shinkansen trains stop here. Station layout Hiroshima Station ...

and

Hiroshima Bus Center is the key bus terminal located in central Hiroshima. History Hiroshima Bus terminal opened on July 29, 1957, with bus stops around Kamiya-cho, Hiroshima. The current "Bus Center" opened in October 1974 as a part of "Hiroshima Center Buildin ...

History

The area of present-day Ōda located in

Izumo Province was an old province of Japan which today consists of the eastern part of Shimane Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province is in the Chūgoku region. History During the early Kofun period (3rd century) this region was independent an ...

. The area was a strategic meeting point of three ancient transportation routes: the

San'in The is an area in the southwest of Honshū, the main island of Japan. It consists of the northern part of the Chūgoku region, facing the Sea of Japan. Etymology The name San'in in the Japanese language is formed from two kanji characters. T ...

, and the

Bingo Bingo or B-I-N-G-O may refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * Bingo, a game using a printed card of numbers ** Bingo (British version), a game using a printed card of 15 numbers on three lines; most commonly played in the UK and Ireland ** Bi ...

. As a result, numerous market towns were developed in the area. On October 1, 2005, the towns of Nima and Yunotsu (both from Nima District) were merged into Ōda. Therefore, Nima District was dissolved as a result of this merger.

Local attractions

Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine

Ōda is home to the

, a

. Iwami Ginzan was the largest

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

in Japanese history. Active for almost four hundred years, it operated from the discovery of silver in the area in 1526 until 1923. Iwami Ginzan was the most important source of silver to the

Tokugawa Shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

during the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

(1603 – 1868), and was directly controlled by the Tokugawa government. The mine is a popular tourist destination in Shimane, and can be reached by bus from Ōda Station on the

Nima Sand Museum

The Nima Sand Museum features a large hourglass mechanism that automatically rotates from December 31 to January 1. It is designated the largest

hourglass An hourglass (or sandglass, sand timer, sand clock or egg timer) is a device used to measure the passage of time. It comprises two glass bulbs connected vertically by a narrow neck that allows a regulated flow of a substance (historically sand) ...

in the world, but is not officially registered in

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

. This museum officially opened in March 1991. Sand_p1 This museum features sand comprising six large and small pyramids made of crystal glass. The world's largest hourglass Sunagoyomi measures the duration of a year and is displayed in the center of the building. * Address 975, Amagouchi, Nima-cho, Oda-City, Shimane-Prefecture * Access 10 minutes walk from JR Nima Station * Opening hours 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (entry by 4:30 p.m.) * Closed:The 1st Wednesday of every month, year-end and new year holidays * URL http://www.sandmuseum.jp/

Sister cities

Daejeon Daejeon () is South Korea's fifth-largest metropolis, with a population of 1.5 million as of 2019. Located in the central-west region of South Korea alongside forested hills and the Geum River, the city is known both for its technology and ...

(since November 14, 1987) *

Kasaoka, Okayama is a city located in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on April 1, 1952. The municipal district also includes 31 outlying islands including seven inhabited islands in the Kasaoka Islands group. As of February 28, 2017, the city h ...

(since April 14, 1990)

References

External links

Ōda City official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oda, Shimane Cities in Shimane Prefecture