Along the Misumi River in Shimane

Some fine weather has come in the wake of the recent typhoon, so I took the chance to go for an early morning walk along the Misumi River.

Misumi is about halfway between Hamada and Masuda on the coast of Iwami (Eastern Shimane), and there are almost no sites of interest to tourists, which is one of the things that makes it attractive.

Started out from Miho Misumi JR station and headed along the river towards the sea.

Passed a couple of old Kofun (Burial mounds). Iwami may be a backwater of Japan nowadays, but in ancient times it was the "front" of Japan, facing the Korean Peninsular, and was one of the first areas to be settled by the Proto-Japanese.

This heron looked to be getting ready for a morning of fishing.


There is hardly a stretch of coast or riverbank in Japan that has not been covered in concrete or composed of concrete tetrapods, but its such a beautiful morning that even the tetrapods have a strange kind of beauty to them today.


One of the delights of exploring off the beaten track is discovering little gems, like the carvings on the local Hachiman Shrine. A little more detailed and a slightly higher quality than the average shrine carvings.



At the mouth of the river there are fishermen all over. I don't know about other parts of Japan, but round here there are a lot of avid fishermen.

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Japan Shimane festival hachiman Iwami Gotsu Misumi River