Tomogaura is a tiny port on the Sea of Japan coast, a deep, narrow bay in the rocky shoreline of Shimane Prefecture, and it has an important place in the story of Iwami Ginzan. In the early years of the silver rush, in the sixteenth century, this was one of the harbours where ore and silver left the district for the outside world. The natural shelter was valuable: steep, wooded hills on three sides, and a narrow mouth facing the sea, so that small ships could anchor safely out of the winter storms.
The port also has a defensive history, since the clans that fought for control of the mine needed to protect their supply line to the coast. A road led up from the harbour to the mining district, the Tomogaura Kaido, and the whole sequence of mine, road and port forms the cultural landscape that UNESCO listed in 2007. What you see now is a quiet fishing village, with a few houses on the shore, boats pulled up on the slipway, nets drying and the smell of seaweed and salt. It is easy to imagine how different it must have looked when silver was loaded here.
The riding is the reward. The coast road along this part of Shimane runs through a series of tunnels, headlands and small bays, with the grey sea on one side and wooded hills on the other. The bends are gentle and the surface is generally good, and in good weather the views of cliffs and islands are fine. In winter, northerly gales make it a rough, cold place, with wave spray over the road in storms, and the best months are May and June, and September and October.
Bring a snack and water, and, if you are lucky, buy fish directly from a boat. In the evening the light on the water is lovely, particularly when the sun sets over the sea and the lamps of the fishing boats come on.