Izumo is a coastal city in Shimane Prefecture in
the Chigoku region, known across Japan as the home of
one of the Shinto religion’s most important shrines –
Izumo Grand Shrine.
Near Matsue
City, where Shimane Prefecture touches the Pacific, sits
the coastal city of Izumo, where the history of Japan’s
Shinto religion stretches back even before the founding
of
Kyoto and Nara. Mentioned in Japan’s oldest national
chronicles, the region was given by the sun goddess
Amaterasu to Okuninushi – the deity that created Japan.
The Grand Shrine which sits there today honors
Okuninushi, not only as the maker of the country, but as
the deity of good marriages and relationships. Once a
year, the locals celebrate the Kamiari Festival – the time
when all the deities of Japan gather to meet at Izumo
Shrine.
Additional charms of Izumo include the old Izumo Taisha
Railway station – central hub of the bygone JR Taisha
Line
which once connected the region to Kyoto and
preserves
a distinct Japanese architectural style. The station is
now
a museum, complete with mannequin railway workers
posed beside old ticket machines and other equipment.
Please see below for tours that
include Izumo:
