Izumo Taisha

Izumo Taisha tickets and tours: which one to book

Izumo Taisha is an open shrine, so there is nothing you have to buy before you arrive: the gates, the long approach and the outer precinct around the main hall are free to walk, and only the small treasure hall and a few special areas charge a modest fee at the door. Prayers, amulets and the wooden ema plaques are bought at the shrine offices on the spot. What is sold online is a guided walk through the sacred grounds with a local guide, usually starting near the main approach and lasting two to three hours.

It is the sensible choice if you want the myths behind the buildings explained, because the stories of Okuninushi, the white hare and the gathering of the gods give meaning to what otherwise looks like a quiet complex of plain wooden halls. Such walks normally include the guide and nothing else: transport to Izumo, meals and any museum entry are paid separately. Most visitors come independently, either on the slow local Ichibata line from central Izumo or by bus from JR Izumoshi station, and many combine the shrine with Matsue on a two-day trip through Shimane. If you only want to pray and look around, going on your own is easy; if you want context, book the walk or rent the audio material sold near the main gate.

Visiting Izumo Taisha: what to see and how to behave

The shrine is approached along Shinmon-dori, a shopping street that leads to a great concrete torii, and then, unusually for a major shrine, the path runs downhill through the Seimon gate and an avenue of old pines. Rabbit statues dot the grounds, a reference to the legend of the hare of Inaba that Okuninushi healed. A bronze torii marks the inner precinct, where the large worship hall stands in front of the fenced main sanctuary. The main hall is the reason to come. It is the model for the taisha-zukuri style, one of the oldest forms of shrine building, and it was designated a National Treasure in 1952. Today it rises about 24 m, but old records describe a far taller hall reaching roughly 48 m, and in 2000 excavations found bases of enormous pillars made of three cedar trunks bound together, which support the story.

A section is displayed at the Shimane Museum of Ancient Izumo just east of the shrine, and pale markings in the forecourt show where they stood. The hall is rebuilt or renewed in long cycles; the most recent major work ended in 2013. Do not miss the Kagura-den to the west, whose twisted straw rope is one of the largest in Japan. The shrine is famous as a place to pray for good relationships, and its etiquette differs from most: bow twice, clap four times, bow once. Visitors cannot enter the main sanctuary, but you can walk the path around its fence and see the smaller halls that house visiting gods. Photography is fine outdoors; keep it discreet during rites.

Izumo Taisha: opening hours, ceremonies and the best time to go

The grounds open early, around 6 am, and close in the evening; the treasure hall and the museum keep shorter daytime hours, so check their sites before you go. Early morning is the best time, when priests sweep the gravel and the coaches from Matsue have not yet arrived. The most significant period is the tenth month of the old lunar calendar, which falls in November in the modern one. Shinto tradition holds that the gods of all Japan gather in Izumo then, and the shrine holds a welcoming ceremony at Inasa beach and rites through the following week;

the town is busy and lodging fills early. The grand spring festival in mid-May is the other big event. New Year brings large crowds of worshippers. Spring and autumn give the most comfortable weather; winters on the Sea of Japan coast are grey and wet. Allow two hours for the shrine and another hour for the museum, then walk to Inasa beach or head on to the Hinomisaki lighthouse, or return to Matsue for its castle.