Izumo Taisha 出雲大社 Photo Gallery by Matthew Haswell at pbase.com

Izumo Taisha 出雲大社

Japan's second holiest Shintō shrine (behind Ise-jingu in Mie-ken) set beneath the lush mountains of northern Shimane Prefecture, dedicated to Okuninushi, the kami of marriage, and playing host to the entire pantheon of Japanese gods every October.

Signboard at the Ichibata railway terminus	Great outer gate leading to the shrine	Kizuki Minami Shinmon-dōri	At the end of the main street to the shrine
Entrance to the Haiden area	Ōkuninushi statue and kami embodiment	Side view of the sculpture pair	Sacred bull image
Sculpture of the sacred horse kami	Izumo Taisha's Haiden (Hall of Worship)	Shimenawa (straw rope) and roofline	Paper lantern and shimenawa at the entry
Giant Japanese national flag above the shrine	Rooftops of the Honden (Main Hall)	Entrance to the Honden	Lantern and intricate wooden exterior of the gate
Rows of ema and omikuji-lined tree trunk	Intersecting rooflines in the Honden	Behind the Honden	Smaller shrine behind the Honden
Shōkokan (Treasure Hall)	Rooftops of the Honden structures	Ema wishing for good fortune in marriage	Omikuji on a branch off the Honden
Front of the Honden and mountains behind	Shimenawa at the Kagura-den	Underside of the shimenawa	Warigo-soba: the local Izumo speciality
Flag outside a sub-shrine gate	Frontal view of the Kagura-den	View of the main torii and Haiden on departure	Outer torii and distant Ō-torii
Main gate into the shrine grounds	Replica of the original shrine structure	Izumo Taisha-mae rail station	Kitchō-kan and canalized river

comment |

click on thumbnails for full image

Type your message and click Add Comment

It is best to login or register first but you may post as a guest. Enter an optional name and contact email address. Name
Name Email
help	private comment