Registered Tangible Cultural Properties of Shimane

Located in Matsue City, Shimane, the Shimane Prefectural Government Building Assembly Hall was completed in 1959 to a design by Yasuda Kataski and is registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property. This reinforced concrete structure on the former third bailey of Matsue Castle is celebrated as a leading example of post-war provincial modernist architecture.

Discover the Shimane Prefectural Government Main Office Building in Matsue, a 1959 modernist masterpiece designed by Shimane-born architect Yasuda Kataru. Standing on the former third bailey of Matsue Castle, this Registered Tangible Cultural Property harmonises exposed concrete, horizontal white canopies and local stone with the historic landscape.

Facing Matsue Castle across the moat, the Shimane Prefectural Civic Center is a 1968 modernist landmark designed by architect Yasuda Kataji. At the heart of the award-winning Shimane Prefectural Government Area Improvement Plan, it was registered as a Tangible Cultural Property of Japan in 2021. Its colonnaded façade engages in a deliberate dialogue with the prefectural office across the water.

Standing across the moat from Matsue Castle in Shimane Prefecture, the Shimane Prefectural Library is a celebrated work of postwar Japanese modernism. Designed by Kiyonori Kikutake and completed in 1968, the building was registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2021. Its L-shaped reading-room modules, bold steel-roofed central lobby, and carefully aligned wall-columns that preserve views toward the castle reveal an architect thinking deeply about both function and setting. Still in use as a public library today, it is freely open to visitors and sits within easy walking distance of Matsue Castle, the samurai streets of Shiomi Nawate, and other Kikutake works including the Shimane Art Museum on Lake Shinji.

Built in 1916 as a covered drill hall for the Imperial Army's 21st Infantry Regiment, this brick building is one of the earliest examples in the San'in region to combine brick masonry with a steel roof truss. It now serves as the Second Gymnasium of Shimane Prefectural Hamada High School and is a Nationally Registered Tangible Cultural Property, designated in 1997 as a rare survivor of Hamada's life as a garrison town.

Discover Shimane Prefectural Budokan in Matsue, a 1970 martial arts hall designed by celebrated Metabolist architect Kiyonori Kikutake. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property, its bold closed façade and vast 40-meter steel truss dojo make it a hidden gem of modern Japanese architecture near Matsue Castle.

Discover the Sumikawa Power Station Main Building in Masuda, Shimane—a rare 1943 modernist industrial landmark, still generating power today, tucked deep in the Hikimi River valley of western Japan.

Discover the Chugoku Electric Power Hikimi Power Station Main Building, a registered tangible cultural property in Masuda City, Shimane. Built in 1928 with large concrete blocks in a charming Western church-like style, it remains a working hydroelectric plant on the Hikimi River, an evocative landmark of early Showa modernization heritage set amid the Nishi-Chugoku mountains.

The Tsumori Internal Medicine Clinic in Honjō-chō, Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture, is a nationally Registered Tangible Cultural Property built in the late Taishō period. Featuring a steeply pitched copper-plate half-hipped roof, an elegant bay window, and refined Western-style detailing, this charming clinic has served the community for nearly a century. Combine your visit with nearby attractions including Mount Makuragi's Kezōji Temple and the scenic shores of Lake Nakaumi.

Tsuwano Catholic Church in Shimane, rebuilt in 1929 in single-spired Gothic style with a tatami floor, stands where Urakami Christians died. Registered in 1996.

An early-Meiji storehouse in Gotsu Honmachi, Shimane, turned gable-end to the road: white plaster, red Sekishu tile, one of eight Fujita buildings listed in 2009.

A late-Edo timber wall, 26 metres long, dividing three forecourts before the main house of a merchant compound in Gotsu Honmachi, Shimane. Registered in 2009.

The largest of three storehouses on the Fujita plot in Gotsu Honmachi, Shimane. Its south gable carries a latticed window and a family crest. Registered in 2009.

An 11-metre-wide merchant townhouse on Tsuwano's old highway, rebuilt after the great fire of 1853, registered in 2010. Its shopfront glass bears the family crest.

A two-storey earthen storehouse behind the Bundoya shop in Tsuwano, built after the 1853 fire. Clay walls, a cut-stone base, a family crest raised in gable plaster.

The largest of four registered storehouses at Bundoya in Tsuwano, built in late Meiji. Verdigris copper shutters play against red tile and white lime plaster.

Hoseikan Yusentei at Tamatsukuri Onsen in Matsue, Shimane, is a timber pavilion of 1931 built for imperial guests and registered as a Cultural Property in 2018.

Hozumi Residence Shita-no-kura, Onan, Shimane: a late Edo storehouse east of the main house, its posts leaning inward and a curved timber carrying the ridge beam.

Hozumi Residence Main House, Onan, Shimane: a late Edo headman's house, six rooms in a grid west of the earth floor, re-roofed in Sekishu tile over four-tier beams.

Hozumi Residence Sedo-no-kura, Onan, Shimane: a late Edo storehouse behind the main house, its raised roof set over plaster carried right up to the eaves.

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.