Kumano Taisha, Shinto shrine in Matsue, Japan.
Kumano Taisha is a Shinto shrine in Matsue whose main hall, rebuilt in 1948, follows the Taisha-zukuri style with a steep gabled roof and gold ornaments at the eaves. A lower entrance building with a tiled roof holds a notice board and hanging white zigzag paper streamers. To the right, a wooden offering box sits on a stone base near a glass-fronted cabinet.
Kumano Taisha appears in the Engishiki shrine register of 927 as Kumano-niimasu-jinja, a Myojin Taisha of Ou district, Izumo. The deity received court ranks from 851 to 867, rising to Senior Second Rank. In the Middle Ages the shrine split into an Upper Shrine and a Lower Shrine; the Upper was merged into the Lower in the Meiji era. It was ranked Kokuhei Chusha in 1871, Kokuhei Taisha in 1916, and took its present name in 1977.
The shrine is called Nihon Hiidezome no Yashiro, "Japan's first fire-kindling shrine," and its main deity Kushimikenu no Mikoto is read as a food god. On 14–15 October the Reitaisai and the Hi-kiri-sai fire-drilling rite are held, when new fire is struck at the Hikiriden hall built in 1915.
You can attend morning ceremonies and explore the multiple buildings across the grounds while purchasing traditional paper amulets. Wear comfortable shoes since paths connecting the structures are made of stone and can be uneven.
The shrine's name was changed to Kumano Taisha in 1977, restoring the ancient form used in the Engishiki, where it appears as Kumano-nimasu-jinja. Its deity, Kushimikenu-no-mikoto, is now identified with Susanoo; the shrine keeps a Yayoi-period bronze bell (dōtaku) found in the area, now deposited at a nearby museum.
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