Izumo Taisha
出雲大社35°24′ N 132°41′ EShrinePresent main hall built at the 1744…
Izumo Taisha suits anyone who wants to see one of Japan's oldest and most revered shrines in daily worship, and the grounds behind the main hall close at 16:30.
Photo Miya.m · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 and others, credited in the gallery
Visiting with care · Open to visitors
Izumo Taisha is a working shrine with prayers through the day; rites run in the worship hall and kagura hall from 9:00.
- The grounds open 6:00 to 19:00, and the area behind the main hall closes at 16:30
- Drones are banned over the grounds and the shrine's land
- Smart glasses are banned for privacy reasons
- Charging a phone from a mobile battery is banned, and devices without a Japanese safety mark may not be brought in
- Selling sand from Soga-no-yashiro, or listing it online, is banned
- Pets may not enter the inner fence or the worship and kagura halls
- Worship with two bows, four claps and one bow, the shrine's own form, at every hall
- Pray first at the Yatsuashi gate in front of the main hall, then walk anticlockwise round the inner fence
- Keep cameras off people at prayer and off the rites in the worship and kagura halls
- Leave the bike outside the precinct and walk the approach
- Treat the main hall as a place you see from outside the fence
Related places
Izumo Taisha, properly read Izumo Oyashiro, enshrines Okuninushi, honoured as the god of en-musubi, which the shrine explains as every tie that links people and good fortune. The present main hall dates from the 1744 rebuilding and is a National Treasure. The shrine says its origin reaches back to the age of the gods, as the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki tell it.
Worship here uses four claps where most shrines use two. At the great festival on 14 May the priests clap eight times, a number standing for the infinite. The shrine's black and white curtains follow an old rule that ranks black as the most honoured colour.
In November the shrine holds Kamiarisai for the gods who gather in Izumo. In 2026 the welcoming rite falls at 19:00 on 18 November and the sending-off rite at 16:00 on 25 November.
Worth knowing
- Arrive near 6:00 for a quiet walk round the inner fence.
- Buses from JR Izumoshi Station take about 25 minutes, and the Ichibata line ends at Izumo Taisha-mae.
Quick answers about Izumo Taishaよくある質問
How do you pray at Izumo Taisha?
Bow twice, clap four times and bow once. Izumo Taisha uses this form at every hall, and its priests clap eight times only at the great festival on 14 May.
What time does Izumo Taisha open?
The grounds open from 6:00 to 19:00. The area behind the main hall closes at 16:30.
Can you visit Izumo Taisha?
Open to visitors. The grounds open 6:00 to 19:00, and the area behind the main hall closes at 16:30. Drones are banned over the grounds and the shrine's land. Smart glasses are banned for privacy reasons. Charging a phone from a mobile battery is banned, and devices without a Japanese safety mark may not be brought in. Selling sand from Soga-no-yashiro, or listing it online, is banned. Pets may not enter the inner fence or the worship and kagura halls.
How much does Izumo Taisha cost?
Izumo Taisha is free to visit.
How should you behave at Izumo Taisha?
At Izumo Taisha: Worship with two bows, four claps and one bow, the shrine's own form, at every hall. Pray first at the Yatsuashi gate in front of the main hall, then walk anticlockwise round the inner fence. Keep cameras off people at prayer and off the rites in the worship and kagura halls. Leave the bike outside the precinct and walk the approach. Treat the main hall as a place you see from outside the fence.