Shimane Prefecture is situated in the western region of Japan's island of Honshu, it occupies an area of 6,629 square kilometers.
Shimane is bordered by the Sea of Japan, and by Tottori, Hiroshima, and Yamaguchi prefectures.
On March 312005, the towns of Kashima, Mihonoseki, Shimane, Shinji, Tamayu and Yatsuka and the village of Yakumo (all from Yatsuka District) merged with the city of Matsue to form the new city of Matsue.
Towards the end of the Edo period (1600-1868), a carpenter living in Shimane Prefecture obtained an abacus from Hiroshima made by a specialist and made a very good one using locally sourced oak, Japanese apricot and a smoked form of bamboo called susudake.
Later on after two men from the district of Yokota-cho, Takahashi Tsunesaku and Murakami Asakichi, perfected a hand lathe for making the beads, production increased remarkably quickly and the foundation of today's small craft industry was established.
The abacus made here are of the very best quality and the name Unshu is synonymous with the abacus.
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