Four Keys to Understanding Izumo
Centered on Izumo Taisha, the Grand Shrine dedicated to Okuninushi, Izumo City has long illuminated Japan's ancient history from two directions at once — myth and archaeology. One thread is the Kuniyuzuri myth recorded in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, and the matchmaking faith that grew out of it. Another is the little-known ancient reality behind the great hall of Izumo Taisha, which Heian-period aristocrats ranked as "Untai" — the tallest building in Japan, surpassing even the Great Buddha Hall of Todai-ji. Another is the staggering quantity of bronze artifacts unearthed from the fields of Kojindani and Kamo-iwakura, a find that rewrote the record for bronzeware discovered in Japan up to that point. And the last is the sweeping Kunibiki myth — the "land-pulling" story of a landmass drawn in from across the sea — still preserved today in the 1,300-year-old Izumo no Kuni Fudoki. This site follows each of these four threads, one per page.
Walk Through the Site
Each page stands on its own — start wherever interests you most.
Why did the god who built the land become the god of matchmaking? Read the heart of the myth.
Read →From a banished, unruly god to the slayer of an eight-headed serpent who built his palace in Izumo.
Read →Why the tenth lunar month, "Kannazuki" everywhere else, becomes "Kamiarizuki" only in Izumo.
Read →"Untai, Wani, Kyosan." A colossal pillar found underground that backs up the 48-meter theory.
Read →The god who hauled land across the sea with a great rope. How Izumo took its shape.
Read →358 bronze swords found beside a farm path — the discovery that rewrote our picture of ancient Izumo.
Read →A priestly lineage 1,300 years unbroken. The Senge and Kitajima houses, and the history of the periodic shrine renewal.
Read →Sogasha, Inochinushi-sha, Inasa Beach, Hinomisaki Shrine — the small sacred sites around the Grand Shrine.
Read →Izumo soba, the zenzai sweet red-bean soup said to have originated as "Jinzai-mochi," and the Seven Delicacies of Lake Shinji.
Read →Is it really lucky to tuck money into a shimenawa rope? We weigh the rumors against the official word.
Read →A guide to Izumo City, from the Ancient Izumo History Museum to the Hinomisaki Lighthouse.
Read →Overview
Myth, archaeology, and the history of faith each unfold on their own timescale in Izumo. See each page for the full story.
Banished from Takamagahara, Susanoo defeats the serpent at the upper reaches of the Hii River and marries Kushinada-hime. A sword found in the serpent's tail becomes one of the Three Sacred Treasures.
The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki tell how, when Okuninushi ceded the land to Amaterasu, a magnificent palace was built in recognition of his deeds.
Two sites barely 350–500 meters apart yield 358 bronze swords and 39 bronze bells (combined) — a quantity that overturned everything then assumed about bronze finds.
Nearly the only surviving fudoki to come down to us almost complete. Its opening Kunibiki myth still shapes how Izumo's land is understood today.
A primer for aristocratic children names the great hall of Izumo Taisha as Japan's tallest building, ahead of Todai-ji's Great Buddha Hall and the Heian palace's Daigokuden.
After a succession dispute, the two houses come to share the priestly duties. Today the Senge house holds the position of chief priest of Izumo Taisha.
A pillar bundling three great cedar trunks, roughly 3 meters across, is discovered — powerful physical evidence for the theory of a colossal ancient shrine hall.
Every tenth lunar month, rites begin with the god-welcoming ceremony at Inasa Beach, and continue to welcome the gods of the whole nation.
Start Here
The Kuchizusami, a primer written for children of the Heian court, ranks the largest buildings in Japan of its day as "Untai, Wani, Kyosan" — first Izumo Taisha, second the Great Buddha Hall of Todai-ji, third the Daigokuden of the Heian palace. Shrine tradition holds that the great hall stood 16 jo (roughly 48 meters) tall, but for a long time this was dismissed as little more than legend.
That assumption was overturned in the year 2000. Excavations on the shrine grounds uncovered the traces of astonishingly massive pillars, roughly 3 meters in diameter. Known as "Uzu pillars," each one bundling three great cedar trunks bound with metal rings, they stood as physical evidence for the theory of a colossal shrine hall. How close does the legendary high-rise sanctuary come to historical fact? The next page follows that story.
Read the Mystery of the Great Hall's Height →