is a lake

Lake

A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

 in the northeast area of the Shimane Prefecture

Shimane Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region on Honshū island. The capital is Matsue. It is the second least populous prefecture in Japan, after its eastern neighbor Tottori. The prefecture has an area elongated from east to west facing the Chūgoku Mountain Range on the south side and to...

 in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. The lake is the seventh largest in Japan, with a circumference of 48 km. It is enclosed by the Shimane peninsula (Shimane-hanto) to the north, and the Izumo

Izumo, Shimane

is a city located in Shimane, Japan. Izumo is known for Izumo soba noodles and the Izumo Taisha Shinto shrine.-Demographics:The modern city was founded on November 3, 1941....

 and Matsue plains to the west and east respectively. 7,652 ha

Hectare

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

 of wetland are a Ramsar Site

Ramsar sites in Japan

The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands. Adopted in 1971, it entered into force in 1975 and as of March 2011 has 160 Contracting Parties. Japan was the twenty-fourth party to accede, on 17 October 1980...

.

Lake Shinji-ko offers an economic benefit to nearby residents in the form of active fisheries and mild tourism

Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

 opportunities, such as the various hot spring resorts built along the lake's coast and sunset cruises offered by local companies.

Lake Shinji-ko is connected to the Sea of Japan

Sea of Japan

The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland, the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific...

 via Nakaumi Lagoon

Nakaumi

is a brackish lake located between Tottori and Shimane prefectures in Japan. The lake is enclosed by the Shimane Peninsula to the north and Yumigahama Peninsula to the east...

, and as a result is made up of brackish water

Brackish water

Brackish water is water that has more salinity than fresh water, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing of seawater with fresh water, as in estuaries, or it may occur in brackish fossil aquifers. The word comes from the Middle Dutch root "brak," meaning "salty"...

 of good quality, which adds to the abundance of aquatic life, such as whitebait

Whitebait

Whitebait is a collective term for the immature fry of fish, typically between 25 and 50 millimetres long. Such young fish often travel together in schools along the coast, and move into estuaries and sometimes up rivers where they can be easily caught with fine meshed fishing nets...

, eel

Eel

Eels are an order of fish, which consists of four suborders, 20 families, 111 genera and approximately 800 species. Most eels are predators...

, sea bass

Suzuki (fish)

Suzuki , Lateolabrax japonicus, inhabit seashores and estuaries. Many Japanese cities have developed near these places since ancient times. Suzuki have shiny white flesh with an easily recognizable, broad-flaked structure and a mild flavor. They have traditionally been one of the most popular...

, and the most famous Lake Shinji-ko delicacy, the Shijimi clam (Corbicula japonica

Corbicula

Corbicula is a genus of freshwater and brackish water clams, aquatic bivalve mollusks in the family Corbiculidae, the basket clams.The genus name is derived from Latin corbis "basket", referring to the shape and ribs of the shell....

). The Shijimi shellfish is caught using a 'joren', a tool unique to Lake Shiji-ko, which is made up of a basket tethered to a rake. The shellfish is often referred to as one of the 'Shiji-ko Shitchin', the 'Seven Delicacies of Lake Shinji-ko.'