IZUMO TAISHA

It is whispered that this is the oldest Shintō shrine in Japan, and this information alone should draw your attention to this unique place. As always in Japan, it was destroyed and then rebuilt several times. The buildings you see date back to the 18th century. The shrine is associated with the mythical deities Mikoto Okuninushi, Minakanushi and Takamimusubi. According to the Kojiki, the shrine was given to Okuninushi by Amaterasu in gratitude for the gift of this province to Mikoto Ninigi. Built according to the plans of a royal palace, it was restored in 1744, then in 1874. It is a wooden structure, 25 meters high, resting on nine pillars, one of which, the central one, is itself constituted by the meeting of nine pillars welded together. The tenth month of the year (October) is the kami-ari zuki: it is the time when the kamis (deities or spirits of Shintoism) from all over Japan gather. At this same time, other shrines in Japan, especially Ise-Jingū in Mie Prefecture, are decreed kanna-zuki, a month without kami, inasmuch as all are at Izumo Shrine. A big matsuri is organized in October for this occasion. Many small wooden houses are arranged around the shrine to accommodate the kami. During this period, the kami having deserted their shrine, the tradition wants that any marriage is avoided. At this period, one does not clap twice when one goes to collect oneself, but four times. The month of October represents the meeting of kami-sama present (kami-ari) and kami-sama absent (kan-na), the two faces of reality, which explains why we clap our hands four times. The present honden is 25 meters high, but the pillars found from the Nara period show that it was 48 meters high. In fact, it seems that the honden was once 96 meters high, as evidenced by the remains of pillar foundations found recently. The Japanese politely refuse to deny a cherished myth that Japan was primitive until the Jomon period, though in their hearts they don't really believe it. A new sect of the Shintō was established in Izumo in 1873 by Sompuku Senge. It took the name Izumo Taisha-kyō and claimed over three million five hundred thousand followers. The shrine invites the visitor to stroll around, conquered by so much technical prowess, and nature provides a lush setting for the wooden buildings, further enhancing the enchantment.