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Iwami Silver Mine (2)
The district of Omori in Oda City, once the head town of the Silver Mine Part of the World Heritage site at Iwami is the small district of Omori, once the main town of the mineworks. It is here that...
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Year of Renewal (Sengu)
Outer gate at Naiku, one of the more than 100 buildings that are being renewed at Ise jingu 2013 is going to be the year of the Shikinen Sengu (rebuilding) at the country’s premier shrines of Ise and...
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Oki Islands
Islands are one of Japan’s greatest assets. These little microcosms dotted around the mainlands offer idlyllic escape from the rat race and transport the visitor to an earlier age of timeless...
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Izumo celebrates (May/June)
Izumo Taisha, soon to celebrate the completion of its 60-year cycle of renewal (courtesy Connect Shimane) By now most people have heard of the Ise celebrations this year for the completion of its...
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Izumo 60 year cycle
A reader has written in with photos and to say that the finishing touches are being done for Izumo’s 60 year cycle of rebuiliding (shikinen sengu). A previous posting detailed the very impressive...
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An Izumo study
A close-up study of Izumo's rice-rope, largest of its type in the world An interesting review by Green Shinto friend Aike Rots has appeared of a dissertation that focusses on Izumo Taisha and its...
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Ancient ties (imperial wedding)
Izumo Shrine's reputation as the most famous 'enmusubi' (love connection) spot in Japan is likely to be cemented by news that the son of its chief priest met his imperial fiancée at the shrine In...
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Izumo enmusubi
In the Japan Times today Stephen Mansfield writes of Matsue and its connections with Lafcadio Hearn (a writer featured previously on Green Shinto here and here). Matsue is in the charming prefecture of...
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Izumo wedding
News that is sure to deepen the reputation of Izumo Taisha as a place to pray for ‘love connections’ (enmusubi). Tourism to one of Japan’s most alluring shrines will certainly be furthered too by the...
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Izumo delights
The attractive Izumo coastline at Hinomisaki The Shimane area, boasting the impressive Izumo Taisha, is undoubtedly one of the most attractive and mythological parts of Japan. Much of its appeal is...
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Myth-making
Izanagi and Izanami, the Adam and Eve of Japan? My attention was caught recently by an article in the conservative leaning Daily Yomiuri by a Japanese professor at Waseda University. It asked the...
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Touring Mt Daisen
courtesy Houki Town website At 1,729 meters, Daisen rises as the tallest mountain in western Japan. It’s in Tottori Prefecture, on the way to the Izumo province of ancient myth. In the winter, the...
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Shimane website
It’s kamiari time in Izumo, when all the gods of Japan (except Ebisu) gather for their annual meeting in Shimane. How appropriate then that Green Shinto should carry a piece about Shimane. 2012 marked...
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Hearn 6): Izumo
Inside the Haiden of Izumo Taisha ‘Of all Shinkoku [land of the gods] the most holy ground is the land of Izumo.’ So wrote Hearn in the early days of his infatuation with Japan when he was resident in...
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L.A. Oshogatsu (New Year)
Shinto opportunity in the City of Angels coming up! The fox guardian of Inari shrines Little Tokyo in Los Angeles celebrates New Year’s Day with an Oshogatasu Festival. Live entertainment, stalls,...
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Hearn 7): Shinto heart
Izumo Taisha – for Hearn ‘the living centre of Shinto’ Christmas day in Japan, falling on a Sunday this year, seems an opportune time to consider the relative lack of Christianity in the country. This...
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Tamatsukuri (Hot spring of myths)
Tamatsukuri Onsen is a charming hot spring resort either side of a small stream and boasting ‘the biggest magatama in Japan’ Just outside Matsue City in Shimane Prefecture is the hot spring resort of...
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Tamatsukuriyu Shrine
The hillside Tamatsukuriyu Jinja, founded in 733 to guard over the hot springs You often find shrines in Japan presiding over hot springs. Why? Clearly there are few places as awe-inspiring in terms of...
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Hearn 15): Mt Daisen
A stupendous ghost! Looking eastward from the great bridge over those sharply beautiful mountains, green and blue, which tooth the horizon, I see a glorious spectre towering to the sky. Its base is...
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Oldest shrine
Most people assume Ise Jingu is Japan’s oldest shrine. Mythical and archaeological evidence however says that it is Izumo Taisha. It was once the country’s most prestigious shrine, being supplanted by...
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