Izumo Taisha, Ancient Shinto shrine in Izumo, Japan.
Izumo-taisha is a Shinto shrine in Izumo known for its tall wooden main hall, which rises about 24 meters (79 feet). The entire grounds include multiple buildings, among them treasury halls and smaller auxiliary shrines built in traditional style.
The shrine's founding is tied to the kuniyuzuri myth: Okuninushi surrendered the land on condition of receiving a palace with thick pillars and chigi reaching the sky, built at Tagishi beach. The Nihon Shoki records a repair ordered in 659, and in 867 the shrine was raised to junior second rank and called Izumo's first shrine. The present main hall dates from 1744, after Toyotomi Hideyori's work of 1609 and Tokugawa Iemitsu's of 1667.
Izumo-taisha is known in Shinto tradition as the place where deities from across Japan gather during the tenth month of the lunar calendar. Visitors see worshippers clapping twice, then four times, which is an exception to the usual custom at most shrines.
The grounds are open to walk through freely, and exploring on foot is the best way to see the different buildings connected by paths. A treasury hall displays artifacts and is open during typical daytime hours most days.
The great shimenawa rope at the Kagura Hall weighs about five tonnes, and visitors once threw coins to test their luck until the shrine declared the practice disrespectful and damaging. The honden's inner sanctuary faces west, not south, and its ceiling carries seven painted clouds.
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