Izumo Taisha

Izumo Taisha lies at the foot of the Yakumo hills on the western tip of the Shimane Peninsula, a short distance inland from the Sea of Japan. The shrine is dedicated to Ōkuninushi, the deity who in Japanese mythology built and ruled the land before ceding it to the descendants of the sun goddess Amaterasu; in return, a great palace was built for him here. He is venerated as a god of good fortune and, above all, of en-musubi, the tying of bonds, including marriage.

The main sanctuary, rebuilt in 1744, stands about 24 m high on thick pillars and is the prime example of taisha-zukuri, regarded as the oldest style of shrine architecture. Records suggest that the sanctuary was once much taller, and in 2000 excavations in front of it uncovered the bases of huge pillars made of three bundled cedar trunks, supporting accounts of a medieval building of around 48 m.

In front of the sanctuary stand the Haiden worship hall and, to the west, the Kaguraden hall, hung with a shimenawa rope some 13 m long weighing about 5.2 tonnes, one of the largest in Japan. Worshippers here clap four times rather than twice.

The shrine appears in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki of the early 8th century, and the Izumo no Kuni Fudoki of 733 records the construction of Ōkuninushi's palace. Its high priests, the Senge family, trace their descent to Ame-no-Hohi, a son of Amaterasu, and have served the shrine for more than eighty generations. In the Heian period the sanctuary was said to be the largest building in Japan, larger even than the Great Buddha Hall of Tōdai-ji. The sanctuary was rebuilt regularly; the present building dates from 1744 and was restored in a major renovation completed in 2013.

According to tradition, the gods of all Japan gather at Izumo in the tenth month of the lunar calendar to discuss the fates and bonds of people for the coming year. For this reason the month is called Kannazuki, the month without gods, elsewhere in Japan, but Kamiarizuki, the month with gods, in Izumo. The gods are welcomed at Inasa Beach and housed in the Jūkusha halls during a series of rituals held in November of the modern calendar.

As a shrine of en-musubi, Izumo Taisha is especially popular with people praying for a partner or a happy marriage. The worship style of two bows, four claps and one bow distinguishes it from most other shrines.