[3] Shimane Prefecture contains the majority of the Lake Shinji-Nakaumi metropolitan area centered on Matsue, and with a population of approximately 600,000 is Japan's third-largest metropolitan area on the Sea of Japan coast after Niigata and Greater Kanazawa.

Shimane Prefecture is bounded by the Sea of Japan coastline on the north, where two-thirds of the population live, and the Chūgoku Mountains on the south.

Shimane Prefecture governs the Oki Islands in the Sea of Japan which juridically includes the disputed Liancourt Rocks (竹島, Takeshima).

Shimane Prefecture is home to Izumo-taisha, one of the oldest Shinto shrines in Japan, and the Tokugawa-era Matsue Castle.

[4] At that time, the current Shimane prefecture was divided into three parts: Iwami, Izumo, and Oki.

During the Nara period, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro wrote a poem on Shimane's nature when he was sent as the Royal governor.

Emperor Go-Daigo later escaped from Oki and began rallying supporters against the shogunate, which proved successful.

In 1638, the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu Matsudaira Naomasa [ja] became the ruler because the Horio clan had no heir, and his family ruled until the abolition of the han system.

[8] Shimane Prefecture is situated on the Sea of Japan side of the Chūgoku region.

[9] Eight cities are located in Shimane Prefecture, the largest in population being Matsue, the capital, and the smallest being Gōtsu.

The cities Masuda, Unnan, Yasugi, and Gōtsu had a slight population increase due to the mergers in the early 2000s.

[13] JR West and Ichibata Electric Railway serves the prefecture in terms of rail transportation.

The Sanin Main Line goes through the prefecture on the Sea of Japan side into major cities such as Matsue and Izumo.

[16] Additionally, the overnight limited express Sunrise Izumo operates daily between Tokyo and Izumoshi.

The supermarket, Mishimaya, and the hardware store, Juntendo, are examples of companies based in Shimane.

A reason for the population distribution is that the Chūgoku Mountains make the land inland harder to inhabit.