Registered Tangible Cultural Properties of Shimane

Discover the Tsuwano Catholic Church Priest's Residence, a registered cultural property built in 1917. This charming two-story wooden building blends Western and Japanese architectural styles in the historic samurai district of Tsuwano, Shimane Prefecture.

The ceremonial gate of the Itohara ironmaster house, a late-Edo timber gate roofed in tile with flanking walls, opened only for the lord of Matsue's formal visits.

The 1896 Kanayago shrine of the Itohara house, barely 0.9 square metres, enshrining the deity of ironmaking revered by tatara smelters. Its smallest registered building.

The late-Edo rice storehouse of the Itohara house, oldest of the family's stores. Registered farmers who held samurai rank, they built wealth on rice as well as iron.

The 1924 main house of the Itohara ironmasters of Okuizumo: some forty rooms over about 350 tsubo. It once lodged the lord of Matsue as its guest.

The late-Meiji enclosure wall of the Itohara house, a timber wall with tiled coping about 36 metres long, tying the ceremonial gate and stone pillars into one frontage.

The late-Meiji reception rooms of the Itohara house, remodelled in 1936, where the lord of Matsue was received. The family kept tea utensils of the tea-master lord Fumai.

The early-Showa tea-garden arbor of the Itohara house, barely three square metres under a cedar-bark roof, where guests paused before a tea gathering.

The 1876 south storehouse of the Itohara house, earliest dated of its buildings. A two-storey white-plastered dozo of about 193 square metres, largest of its stores.

The late-Meiji stone gate pillars of the Itohara house, framing an opening about 3.7 metres wide, the everyday counterpart to its timber ceremonial gate.

Standing on the grounds of Shimane Prefectural Taisha High School near Izumo Taisha Grand Shrine, Inasa Kaikan is the former 1902 auditorium of Shimane Prefectural Third Middle School. A nationally Registered Tangible Cultural Property, it showcases pseudo-Western Meiji school architecture with clapboard siding, sash windows, and a distinctive octagonal entrance porch preserved from the original main building.

Discover Karakoro Art Studio, the beautifully preserved former Bank of Japan Matsue Branch in Shimane Prefecture. Designed by architect Nagano Uheiji in 1938 and registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property, this Greek-inspired landmark now serves as a vibrant food, culture, and art complex in the heart of Matsue's castle town.

The Former Gōtsu Town Hall Main Building, standing along the Tenryō Gōtsu Honmachi Iraka Kaidō in Gōtsu City, Shimane Prefecture, is a two-story reinforced concrete and wood structure built in 1926. Featuring a symmetrical facade with geometric motifs characteristic of Taishō-era design, it was registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property in 2010 and now serves as a community exchange center.

The Former Gōtsu Post Office, located along the Tenryō Gōtsu Honmachi Iraka Kaidō heritage streetscape in Shimane Prefecture, is a two-story wooden Western-influenced building constructed around 1887 by a local timber merchant who modeled it after trading houses in Kobe. With its white plaster walls, simulated cornerstones, and blue-painted pillars, it is one of Japan's oldest surviving post office buildings and was registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2009.

Discover the Former Tadokoro Elementary School Auditorium in Ohnan, Shimane Prefecture. Built in 1928, this Registered Tangible Cultural Property features a grand irimoya roof and early Shōwa-era wooden architecture, now serving as a local history museum.

The plainest of Sasaya's four registered buildings in Tsuwano, and the one with the best door: kakeko-nuri plasterwork whose stepped edges leave fire no way in.

A tiny Edo storehouse built to be looked at: namako tile wall base, copper shutters, a crest on top. It makes the Honmachi streetscape with the shop it stocked.

Thick fireproof walls, one grilled window, and inside a six-mat tatami room with polished log rafters. A merchant family's tea-room sealed in a strongbox, Tsuwano.

Fourteen meters of frontage on Honmachi in Tsuwano. Plastered okabe walls bury the frame, udatsu parapets rise at each end, and the ground floor still sells kimono.

A 19-metre reinforced concrete chimney built in 1957 at Shimomori Brewery in Tsuwano. It vented the kiln that steamed sake rice and now marks the brewery from afar.

Shimane’s registered properties across designations, with featured heritage and travel notes.

The complete kokuhō catalogue — browse by prefecture, period, and category.

Nationwide jūyō bunkazai — architecture, sculpture, painting, crafts, and documents.