Yasugi

Gassan Toda Castle Remains

Yasugi (安来) is a city at the eastern end of Shimane Prefecture. Directly to the west is the town of Higashi Izumo and then Matsue city. Directly to the east is the city of Yonago (Tottori Prefecture). On October 1, 2004, the towns of Hakuta and Hirose merged with the city of Yasugi.

Understand

The city used to be important for its steel production. It is best known for the comedic yasugibushi dance and as the home to the Adachi Museum of Art.

Tourist information site

The local tourist association has a multilingual guide site.

Get in

By plane

• 1 Izumo Airport (出雲空港, IZO ^IATA) (In Izumo.), ☏ +81 853-72-7500. Has flights to major Japanese cities and is about 90 minutes away by car. The airport in Yonago, to the east just across the prefectural boundary, is the nearest airport and has a flight to Seoul. (updated Jun 2020)

By train

Yasugi is on the San'in Main Line, which runs along western Honshu's Japan Sea coast, starting in Kyoto and passing through Tottori Prefecture on its way to Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi Prefecture.

By bus

There are no night buses in and out of Yasugi. If coming by bus from a large city such as Tokyo take a bus to Yonago and then take the train into Yasugi. The bus terminal in Yonago is next to the train station. You could also take a bus to Matsue and then catch a local train to Yasugi.

Get around

• Taxi. There are numerous taxi companies in Yasugi. Taxis can usually be found in front of Yasugi Station. Also, as you exit the station, if you turn left and walk about a block you will find a taxi company that is open 24 hours a day. The Yasugi city homepage maintaines a list of taxi companies and their contact information.

See

Adachi Museum of Art

Kiyomizu Temple

• 1 Adachi Museum of Art (足立美術館), 320 Furukawa-cho, ☏ +81 854-28-7111. Oct-Mar 09:00-17:00, Apr-Sep 09:00-17:30. Although it is an art museum, Adachi is most famous for its gorgeous 43,000 m² garden, deemed Japan's best garden by the American Journal of Japanese Gardening for 10 years straight. The gardens are ranked according to how well they utilize sukiya living and there is a bias towards gardens that are less-frequented and less-famous but still well-kept. However, visitors can only view it through windows inside the museum. The museum itself has a collection of 130 works by Yokoyama Taikan, a nihonga (traditional Japanese painting) artist, as well as many works by modern Japanese artists. The Ceramic Art Hall showcases works by great Japanese potters, including Kawai Kanjiro (a native of Yasugi) and Kitaoji Rosanjin. Despite the steep entrance fee, it is well worth the visit if you have an interest in 20th century artwork and modern Japanese gardens. \2300 (foreigners get a discount to \2000 by showing passport); recorded English tours \600. (updated May 2024)
• 2 Yasugibushi Theater (安来節演芸館), 534 Furukawa-cho (adjacent to Adachi Museum of Art), ☏ +81 854-28-9500. 10:00-17:00; closed Tu. Will reopen 26th May 2024. Yasugibushi is one of the most popular folk songs and dances in Japan, featuring the humorous loach-scooping dance dojousukui. (The loach is a kind of fish.) Regular performances on weekends and holidays only; 11:20-12:00 and 13:20-14:00. On weekdays, group of 20 or more can reserve a performance. \1000. (updated May 2024)
• 3 Hirose Kasuri Center (広瀬絣センター). Th-Tu 10:00-17:00. Hirose Kasuri is a traditional method of weaving cloth, and this technique has been designated as an intangible cultural asset by Shimane Prefecture. Cotton thread is dyed in wool with indigo to show patterns on the cloth. You can see weavings on the loom and buy handmade Kasuri and indigo-dye articles here. This living textile heritage has been a part of the local scene for 170 years. For ¥800, you can dye your own handkerchief, but you should book ahead. Free. 
• 4 Wako Museum (和鋼博物館), 1058 Yasugi-cho, ☏ +81 854-23-2500. Th-Tu 10:00-17:00. Wako means Japanese steelmaking. This museum stands next to the Port of Yasugi, which prospered at the end of the Edo era as a steel port. Many fine samurai swords, for example, were made of steel from Yasugi. Using HDTV and robots, Wako Museum describes the tatara method of steel-making employed here along with much else about steel-making in Japan. ¥300. 
• 5 Kano Museum of Art (安来市加納美術館). Daily 10:00-16:30P/. This museum has a very rare collection of Japanese old style pottery Bizen-yaki (including kobizen which are made before the Momoyama Period). Closed Last Tuesdays of February, May, August, and 25 Dec to 10 Jan. ¥1000. 
• 6 Kiyomizu Temple (清水寺). Apr-Sep: daily 06:00-18:00, Oct-Mar: daily 06:00-17:00. Surrounded by wooded hillsides, this temple boasts an especially beautiful main hall and three-level pagoda. Founded in 587, in the 9th century Kiyomizu Temple prospered as the foremost center of the Tendai sect, a Buddhist sect that favored mountain recluses. You can enjoy traditional vegetarian cuisine at two inns and a restaurant within the temple grounds (bookings recommended). 

• 7 Gassan Toda Castle Remains (月山富田城). These are the ruins of the castle of the Amako clan, who ruled this area during Japan's period of warring states (1467-1568). The castle was famed as an impregnable redoubt, spreading over the entire summit of Mt. Gassan, 184 m above sea level. At the ruins only stone walls and old stone pavement remain as traces of the past. The castle in Matsue was built to replace this castle. (updated Oct 2017)

Do

• 1 Saginoyu Onsen (さぎの湯荘). Its name means "the heron's hot spring"; according to local legend, it was discovered 1300 years ago, when a white heron alighted on a rock just as hot water welled up, healing its leg. (updated Jun 2020)
• Yasugi Tsukinowa Festival (やすぎ月の輪まつり). This festival reenacts the story of the Inomaro-densho, recorded in the Izumo-Fudoki. In this tale, the spirit of the daughter of Katari-no-Omiimaro sets off for the underworld. The purpose of the festival is to comfort the daughter's restless spirit. Four festival floats, called dashi, parade through the streets accompanied by flutes and drums. (updated Jun 2020)
• Hakuta Tulip Festival (The Hakuta area.). Late April.. A Tulip Festival with thousands of tulips of numerous types and colors. At the festival you can purchase Tulips for ¥50 each. Built to provide a nice background for the tulips, Hakuta has a sort of Dutch-looking windmill. (updated Jun 2020)

Drink

• 1 Cafe Rosso (カフェロッソ), ☏ +81 854-22-1177. W-M 10:00-18:00. One of the most famous cafes in Japan. The owner, Hiroyuki Kadowaki, won the Japan barista championship and placed 2nd in the 2005 World Barista Competition in Seattle. It's on Route 9 near the border with Yonago. 

Go next

• Yonago
• Matsue
• Okuizumo
• Unnan
• Hikawa
• Izumo - home to Izumo Taisha, one of Japan's most holy Shinto Shrines.
• Daisen - Home to the Fuji of the West, great for hiking and skiing.
• Nichinan (Shimane)
• Nanbu

Routes through Yasugi

Shimonoseki ← Matsue ←

W  E

→ Yonago → Tottori