Aug 24, 2026
Shimane Prefecture; the most unexplored on City-cost
A couple of weeks ago, I came across the Top 100 Unexplored Areas of Japan list. It has intrigued me ever since. Out of curiosity, I decided to research the most unexplored or underrepresented areas on City-cost. For prefecture wide, this was really easy to do, thanks to the excellent statistics section on City-cost.
When you go to the bottom of the dedicated page for each prefecture, it shows the 12 most recent posts about that prefecture. I first noticed that Toyama had the least number of posts, with just three recent posts. I have since added several Toyama posts, after a recent visit. That has made Shimane Prefecture the new 'billy,' as the Japanese say for coming last. With just four recent posts, Shimane is now the least represented prefecture on City-cost. Which implies it is also the least explored by City-costers.
However, it only shows recent posts in that section when "Shimane" was chosen as the area. So, if somebody choses, for example, "Matsue-shi, Shimane", it will not show on the list in the statistics section. The option of just "Shimane" needs to be chosen:
So, there is a chance that Shimane has more articles, but they are grouped under their city, rather than the broad prefecture area classification. However, I have been on City-cost long enough to know that Shimane is one of the least covered prefectures on the site in recent years. But Genkidesu has written some excellent posts about the prefecture in the past. Start with; Why Shimane should be on every Japan traveler's list.
Have you ever visited Shimane?
Irish, Mom of 4, currently also living beside the In-Laws. 25+ years back and forth between Ireland and Japan! I also write on my personal website: insaitama.com
4 Comments
genkidesu
3 hours ago
I've been and I still rate it as one of my favorite travel experiences here! Matsue has a great bus system that makes it super easy to get around, there's an original castle, incredible gardens like the ones at the Adachi Museum of Art, a bunch of fun hands-on experiences, Izumo Taisha, etc...I rave about it to anyone who will listen!
BigfamJapan
3 hours ago
@genkidesu you've really sold it to me - I really enjoyed your older posts about it that I just read today! It got me excited to go; whenever that maybe. I have always wanted to go because of the Lafcadio Hearn connection, but now - thanks to you - I want to go for several more reasons!
BigfamJapan
3 hours ago
@genkidesu I've just edited my post to add a link to your excellent post about "Why Japan Should be on ever Japan Traveler's list".
genkidesu
2 hours ago
@BigfamJapan I really hope it inspires more people to visit!!