Iwami Ginzan

Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine and its Cultural Landscape was registered as Japan's fourteenth world heritage site in 2007. The ruins are distributed in a large area of the City of Ota, which is located at the center of Shimane Prefecture. It can be roughly divided into three areas: The first is the Omoridistrict, which was developed since in the Edo period by shogunate rule of the silver mine. It holds the central significance among the ruins, featuring the unique townscape from the magistrate's office to Rakan Temple. The second is the fenced silver mine area from between the guard stations of Zosen Temple and Sakane Entrance. The third is the surrounding area other than the two areas mentioned above, which include port and roads used to ship silver and other materials, and historic ruins of castle and others.
Iwami Ginzan, in most part, was operated manually during the Edo period, and for that reason had hardly any environmental impacts such as large-scale landscape changes. As a result, it has recognized globally as ruins that represent the spirit of human coexistence with the nature.