Shimane

Shimane (shĭmä`nā), prefecture (1990 pop. 781,005), SW Honshu, Japan, on the Sea of Japan. Matsue (the capital), Hamada, and Izumo are the most important cities. Stock raising, lumbering, and rice growing are important activities. The Oki Islands are part of Shimane.

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Shimane 

a prefecture in Japan, in the southwestern part of the island of Honshu. Area, 6,600 sq km. Population. 769,000 (1975), approximately one-half urban. The capital is Matsue.

Shimane Prefecture, a part of Chugoku economic region, is one of Japan’s less developed prefectures. Agriculture and fishing are the mainstays of the economy. About 69,000 hectares of land are under cultivation, principally in rice, which yielded a harvest of 170,000 tons in 1972. Vegetables, grapes, flowers, tobacco, and ginseng are also grown. About 63,000 head of cattle are raised, primarily for meat and to a lesser extent for dairy products. Forest products are of some importance to the economy of the prefecture.

Shimane Prefecture produces copper ore, lead, molybdenum, iron sands (Torikami-mura region), arsenic (Sasagatani), and gypsum. It has a hydroelectric power plant; a nuclear power plant, with a capacity of 460 megawatts, is under construction in the city of Kashima (1975). Shimane Prefecture’s major industries are metallurgy and the textile, food-and-condiments, pulp-and-paper, and wood-products industries. Traditional handicrafts include the manufacture of ceramics and lacquer ware. A new industrial complex is under construction near Kashima.

Shimane Prefecture has tourism and national parks at lki Islet, Shimane Peninsula, and Mount M ihe.