Local Guide
7 Delicious Souvenirs from Matsue and Izumo Area

One of the pleasures of traveling is looking around at souvenirs with the recipient in mind. Most tourist attractions have a large number of products on display, so it is easy to get lost in the maze of which one to choose. It is fine to stop at the airport or train station, but if you go to all that trouble, you want to choose a nice product that will make your friend happy. Here is a selection of recommended souvenirs from the Matsue and Izumo area. We have collected attractive items that you will want to buy for yourself.

A standard souvenir of Izumo-taisha Shrine. Izumo Zenzai from a long-established Japanese confectionery shop.

In addition to 5-serving packs and 3-serving packs, single-serving packs are also available, so we recommend buying one for yourself as well as for a souvenir!
In addition to 5-serving packs and 3-serving packs, single-serving packs are also available, so we recommend buying one for yourself as well as for a souvenir!

Izumo area is said to be the birthplace of Zenzai. Zenzai is served at many restaurants as Izumo's famous sweet, and is also one of the most typical standard souvenirs. At Sakaneya, a long-established Japanese confectioner established in 1872 and rooted in Izumo, visitors can purchase zenzai with red and white rice cakes, made with Izumo ingredients.

The zenzai is made with large, flavorful Izumo Dainagon Azuki beans, and the rice cake is a red and white rice cake made from Nitamai glutinous rice, a brand of rice produced in Oku Izumo Town, Shimane Prefecture. The rice cake has a rich flavor of azuki beans and meltingly soft rice cake with a rich aroma of rice. It is easy to cook in a microwave and tastes great, making it a great gift for the recipient.

Local Guide Comment
The Dainagon azuki beans used for zenzai are purchased from more than 20 contract farmers in Izumo City, and the seaweed salt that enhances the flavor of the azuki beans is also locally produced. This is a gem of a zenzai that can be enjoyed in the comfort of your own home, a zenzai with a long history that is particular about the locality of Izumo.

Izumo Zenzai (1-serving pack): 540 yen
Shelf life: 120 days from the date of manufacture in the unopened package.
Sold at the head office, Taisha branch, Irinan branch, Roadside Station Taisha-Go-en Plaza, etc.

Izumo Taisha Seitamae Zenzai Mochi Sakaneya Taisha Store
  • Address 622-2 Kitsuki-Minami, Taisha-cho, Izumo City, Shimane Prefecture MAP
  • Direction 5 minutes walk from Izumo-taisha-mae Station on the Ichibata Line.
  • Business hours 9:00-18:00
  • Closed None
  • TEL 0853-53-5026
  • Parking None
  • Memo If you come by car, please use the "Shinmon-dori Kotsu Hiroba Parking Lot" or other free parking lots.

For a small, petit souvenir, we recommend the bite-sized agar wagashi.

The store is located on
The store is located on "Kammon-dori," the street in front of Izumo Taisha Shrine, so it is easy to stop by before or after visiting the shrine.

Kanten (agar) Japanese confectionery made by "Tsuyama-ya Seika," a confectionery manufacturer established in 1912. The cute-looking "Yukifuwari" made with Shimane fruit is made by mixing agar with meringue and sprinkled with small pieces of agar jelly. The soft and fluffy texture of the agar and the moderate sweetness are addictive. In addition to the strawberry, grape, and coffee color packs, there are also three color packs of ramune, melon, and mandarin orange, and a colorful eight-color pack with all types of jelly. The bite-size snacks are also recommended as a snack while traveling by car or airplane.

The store also offers a wide variety of Japanese confections made from agar using fruits and vegetables from Shimane Prefecture, as well as the recently popular amber sugar and chocolate confections for the fall and winter seasons.

Local Guide Comment
The store also has a café corner that offers drinks such as original blend coffee and Shimane green tea lattes, as well as Japanese and Western sweets such as pancakes and dango (dumplings). It is a spot where you can relax and take a break while purchasing souvenirs.

Product name/price: Yukifuwari, 3 pieces (strawberry, grape, coffee), 420 yen.
Shelf life: 120 days from the date of manufacture in the unopened package.

Izumo Kanten Koubou Izumo Taisha approach main store
  • Address 1364-11 Kinezuki-Minami, Taisha-cho, Izumo City, Shimane MAP
  • Direction 1 minute walk from Izumo-taisha-mae Station on the Ichibata Line
  • Business hours 11:00-16:00
  • Closed Closed on weekends and holidays
  • TEL 0853-53-5377
  • Parking None

Izumo's traditional food, UZU-NI-NI-SHI" is a retort product that can be easily enjoyed at home.

You can enjoy a more authentic taste by topping it with seri or mitsuba, dried laver, grated wasabi, etc.
You can enjoy a more authentic taste by topping it with seri or mitsuba, dried laver, grated wasabi, etc.

Located in the town in front of Izumo Taisha Shrine, this store specializes in puffer fish delicacies and other marine products. In addition to dried puffer fish and fresh chazuke, the store also sells a variety of puffer fish products and nodoguro (sea bream).

Among the many products available, we recommend the retort pouch product Uzuni, a traditional Izumo-no-kuni food, which can be easily enjoyed. Uzuni is a dish of hospitality that has been passed down from generation to generation in the Izumo Kunizou family of Izumo Taisha Shrine, and is a dish of good fortune that is served at the "Fukujin Festival" held every year on the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar. It contains puffer fish meat, kanpyo (dried gourd), and shiitake mushrooms in a thick puffer fish broth, and when eaten with rice, the flavor and aroma of plump, domestic wild puffer fish can be fully appreciated. It can be easily prepared in hot water and is light and easy to eat, so it is sure to please a wide range of people when given as a souvenir.

Local Guide Comment
At the store, "Ofuku-yaki," baked sweets in the shape of a blowfish (150 yen per piece), are available for takeout. The moist dough is filled with moderately sweet red bean paste, and can be purchased in quantities of just one. Be sure to try them while strolling through the Monzenmachi area.

Izumo no kuni traditional food UZU-NI-NI-SHI 180g (1 serving) 864 yen
Shelf life: 1 year from the date of manufacture in the unopened package.
Sold at Fukunowa, Wada Chinmi Honten, and other stores along the Izumo Taisha shrine's Shinmon-dori street.

Izumo Taisha Shinmon-dori Fukunowa
  • Address 837-2 Kinezuki-Minami, Taisha-cho, Izumo-shi, Shimane MAP
  • Direction Approx. 4 min. walk from Izumo Taisha-mae Station on the Ichibata Railway.
  • Business hours Open 10:00-17:00
  • Closed Closed on weekends and holidays
  • TEL 0853-53-8101
  • Parking None
  • Memo When coming by car, please use the free parking lot at the "Kotsu Hiroba" or the parking lots at "Taisha Bunka Place Urara-kan" and "Kitchokan (Taisha Goen Hiroba)".

Prescription for marriage" by a long-established ginger sugar shop

The Izumo area is known as a
The Izumo area is known as a "sacred place for matchmaking. If you give it to someone on Valentine's Day, you may win their heart!

The "Momen Kaido" is a nostalgic street lined with white-walled storehouses and townhouses. In one corner of this charming street is a confectionery that has been making ginger sugar for more than 300 years since its establishment. Using Izumo's specialty, "Shusai ginger," which has a unique sweetness and aroma, as the raw material, they offer a lineup of various ginger sugar products made in the traditional way.

Among them, "Koi no Amahoraku," with its unique packaging resembling a prescription, is a popular product that many tourists select as a Izumo souvenir. This cute heart-shaped ginger sugar comes in two colors, red and white, with a refreshing sweetness and a slight spiciness. It is sure to be the talk of the town when you buy it for your friends and family.

Local Guide Comment
The Cotton Road where the store is located is lined with long-established liquor stores, shoyu shops, and wagashi (Japanese confectionery) shops, and the town's history as a prosperous commercial center is still alive today. Take a leisurely stroll through the elegant streets lined with white-walled storehouses.

Product name/price: Koi no Amakoraku Heart-shaped Hitokuchi Sugar (9 pieces) 535 yen
Shelf life: Approximately 110 days from the date of manufacture in the unopened package.

Kurumaya Ginger Sugar Honpo
  • Address 774 Hirata-cho, Izumo City, Shimane Prefecture MAP
  • Direction 8 min. walk from Unshu-Hirata Station on the Ichibata Line
  • Business hours Open 9:00-19:00
  • Closed Closed on weekends and holidays
  • TEL 0853-62-2115
  • Parking lot 1 car (use Cotton Road Parking)

For a fail-safe souvenir selection, choose San'in's representative confections loved for more than half a century!

Nakayoshi Dojosukui Manju (270 yen), which comes in a heart-shaped case with two pieces, would also make a great wedding gift!
Nakayoshi Dojosukui Manju (270 yen), which comes in a heart-shaped case with two pieces, would also make a great wedding gift!

One of the most famous confections in the San'in region is a manju based on the folk song "Dojo Sukui Odori" from Yasugi City, Shimane Prefecture, and is sold in the shopping area inside JR Matsue Station.

The product has been loved by many people in Japan and abroad for more than half a century for its adorable visual motif of the "Hyottoko mask" and polka-dot tenugui (hand towel) used during dancing, and for its gently sweet white bean paste. In recent years, a variety of flavors have been added to the lineup, such as those using Tottori's specialty "20th Century Pear" and strawberries from Yasugi City, making the most of the San'in region's famous products. For first-time San-in tourists who are unsure of which product to choose, or for those who are considering a standard souvenir with a local flavor, this is the product for you.

Local Guide Comment
The matcha (powdered green tea) flavor made in collaboration with Senchasou, a long-established local tea shop, and the milk caramel flavor made with Kisugi milk from Unnan City, Shimane Prefecture, are also popular. Through the wide variety of manjuu, you can get a taste of the local flavor unique to Shimane Prefecture.

Dojosukui manju (8 pieces) 648 yen
Shelf life: 70 days from the date of manufacture in the unopened package.
Sold at Chaminade Matsue, JR Izumo Station "Atones Izumo," Sightseeing Center Izumo, etc.

Nakaura Honpo Chaminade Matsue
  • Address 472-2 Asahi-cho, Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture MAP
  • Direction JR Matsue Station
  • Business hours 9:00-19:30 (same as Chamine Matsue)
  • Closed Same as Chamine Matsue
  • TEL 0852-26-6577
  • Parking Yes (charged)

The popular Western-style monaka with a motif of Matsue's specialty shijimi clam

Unique packaging featuring a fishing net for shijimi clam, available in packs of five or by the piece (216 yen).
Unique packaging featuring a fishing net for shijimi clam, available in packs of five or by the piece (216 yen).

A representative specialty of Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture, is the large "shijimi" (dried young sardines) caught in Lake Shinji. At a popular sweets store in the city, "Oyatsu-ya Surir", you can purchase unique Western-style monaka in the shape of a shijimi clam, which are loved not only by tourists but also by local people as a souvenir or a snack for children.

It is a Japanese-Western confectionary made by squeezing moist almond-flavored sponge dough into a monaka and baking it with chestnuts and azuki beans. The subtle aroma of Western liquor and the moderate sweetness of the brown sugar cream combine with the flavor of almonds to express a new taste sensation. As a relatively new category of local sweets, this product is especially recommended for those who want to avoid the standard souvenirs....

Local Guide Comment
The store's showcase is filled with a variety of colorful and unique cakes. Among them, the moist roll cake "Oyatsuya Roll" is one of the signature products that has many local fans.

Matsue Western-style Monaka Shijimi (5 pieces) 1,296 yen
Best before date of expiration: 14 days from the date of manufacture, if unopened.

Snack Shop Thrille
  • Address 3-18-7 Kaminogi, Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture MAP
  • Direction 15 min. walk from JR Nogi Station
  • Business hours 10:30-18:30
  • Closed Closed on Wednesdays and occasional holidays
  • TEL 0852-22-0828
  • Parking Free of charge

The deliciousness of the ingredients is concentrated. Additive-free freeze-dried Saijo persimmon

The peel of the persimmon is cut to a perfect thickness to prevent cracking and dried. It is also recommended as a topping for yogurt.
The peel of the persimmon is cut to a perfect thickness to prevent cracking and dried. It is also recommended as a topping for yogurt.

The Honjo district of Matsue City, where Benkei Musashibo was born and raised, is one of the most famous places in Shimane Prefecture for producing Saijo-gaki persimmons. The persimmon grown in the soil blessed with sea breezes from the Central Sea and the difference in temperature is rich in sweetness and is very popular as a gift. This freeze-dried product is an additive-free snack that does not contain sugar and makes the most of the persimmon's natural flavor. The flavor and sweetness of the persimmon is concentrated and the crispy, light texture can be enjoyed. They are perfect not only as a souvenir, but also as a companion on a road trip.

The roadside station Honjo, where we sell our products, has the Naka Sea stretching out in front of it, and from the parking lot and observation green, you can also see the famous mountains Daisen and Daikonjima.

Local Guide Comment
Musashibo Benkei is known as a vassal of Minamoto no Yoshitsune. The Honjo area is home to Benkei's Forest, where Benkei is said to have been born, and the neighborhood is dotted with spots related to Benkei.

Product name/price: Freeze-dried Saijo persimmon "karari" (3 pieces), 324 yen.
Shelf life: 180 days from the date of manufacture in the unopened package.

Roadside Station Honjo
  • Address 401-8 Nohara-cho, Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture MAP
  • Direction Approximately 20 minutes from JR Matsue Station by car
  • Direction From JR Matsue Station, get off at "Honjo Junior High School Entrance" and walk about 6 minutes.
  • Business hours Property, snack cafe 9:00-18:00, information corner 8:30-18:00
  • Closed Open every third Tuesday of odd-numbered months (except March and September, when it is open on the second Tuesday)
  • TEL 0852-34-1528
  • Parking Free of charge
The information in this article is current as of the date of the update. Please check before visiting as they are subject to change.