Izumo Province Ichinomiya
Izumo Taisha
出雲大社
Izumo Taisha is the ichinomiya — the leading shrine — of the former Izumo Province, in present-day Shimane. It has a car park (about 385 spaces), free. Opening hours end at 16:30 (charms and goshuin). Its principal annual festival (reisai) falls on May 14 every year. We found 12 entries for the shrine in Japan’s national database of designated cultural properties, 2 of them National Treasures. The nearest other ichinomiya is Mononobe Jinja, 31 km to the south-west in a straight line.
Here it is two bows, four claps, one bow
At most shrines you bow twice, clap twice and bow once. At this one the number of claps is different. In Japanese: 二拝四拍手一拝.
The shrine’s own FAQ gives the sequence as two bows, four claps, one bow. At the annual festival on 14 May it becomes eight claps. Around the main hall, walk the fence anticlockwise and use the same sequence at each hall.
Getting there
島根県出雲市大社町杵築東195
The address is given in Japanese on purpose. Show it to a taxi driver, or copy it into a car navigation system — an English transliteration will not be recognised.
For a car navigation system
- Phone
- Japanese car navigation searches by phone number. This is the fastest way to enter a destination.
- Coordinates
- Derived from the address down to the street number, via Japan's national mapping agency. Not a survey of the hall itself
- Address
How to rent and drive a car in Japan →
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By train and bus
The source, word for word (bus stop names included):
一畑バス[出雲大社・日御碕・宇竜行き]で25分
Taken from the shrine's own website (出雲大社 公式サイト 交通アクセス, checked 2026-10-08). Station and stop names stay in Japanese so you can match them to signs. Fares and timetables are not given — they change.
Parking
It has a car park (about 385 spaces), free.
複数あり。大駐車場 普通385台・バス13台（無料・6:00-20:00）／第2駐車場 360台（無料・混雑時のみ開放・未舗装・16時に正面閉鎖）／かめやま広場 100台（24時間。島根県公式観光サイトは令和7年11月25日から有料化と記載しており出典間で不一致）／古代出雲歴史博物館 普通244台・バス15台（無料・開館時間のみ）／みせん広場 普通111台・バス9台（無料・24時間）／神門通り交通広場 普通89台（有料 1時間300円、以後1時間200円・24時間）／大社ご縁広場 普通180台・バス5台（無料・24時間）。旧大社駅は2021年2月以降利用不可
The note above is in Japanese; it usually records dates when the car park is closed, and the fee.
Shrine office hours
Opening hours end at 16:30 (charms and goshuin).
The full note from the source, in Japanese:
8:30-16:30（御札・御守・御朱印。早朝6:30-8:30と夕刻16:30-19:00は臨時窓口）／参拝 6:00-19:00（御本殿裏側は16:30閉鎖）／ご祈祷 9:15-16:30
Closing times of every ichinomiya, earliest first →
Visiting the 3 ichinomiya in Shimane in one day? Work out an order that reaches each office before it closes →
History in brief
- Founding
- According to myth, at Amaterasu's command the gods of Takamagahara built a great palace for Okuninushi at the foot of Mount Uka.
- Buildings
- A shrine relocation ceremony (sengu) for the rebuilt main hall was held at the end of the third month of 1667 (Kanbun 7).
- Buildings
- In 1744 (Enkyo 1), a full-scale rebuilding and relocation ceremony was held, following the Kanbun-era construction.
- Buildings
- Since then, the hall has been repaired four times, mainly reroofing: in 1809, 1881, 1953 and 2013.
Summarised from the shrine's own website (出雲大社 御遷宮の歴史, checked 2026-10-08). Traditions are given as the shrine tells them, not as established history.
Enshrined deities
- Onamuchi-no-Mikoto 大国主大神 17 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
The shrine's website writes the deity's name 大国主大神 and the prefectural shrine association 大國主大神 — the same name in older characters.
Our English summary of the Japanese description. Spelling as given by the shrine's own website.
Goshuin (shrine seal)
- Available
- Yes
- Hours
- 7:00-18:00
Nationally designated cultural properties
- 出雲大社本殿
-
National Treasure
大社造、檜皮葺
designated 1952-03-29 · mid-Edo period - 出雲大社
-
Important Cultural Property
三間一戸楼門、入母屋造、檜皮葺
designated 2004-07-06 · mid-Edo period - 秋野鹿蒔絵手箱
- National Treasure
- 太刀〈銘光忠／〉
- Important Cultural Property
- 島根県出雲大社境内遺跡（旧本殿跡）出土品
- Important Cultural Property
- 紙本墨書宝治二年遷宮儀式注進状（建長元年六月日）
- Important Cultural Property
- 紙本墨書後醍醐天皇宸翰宝剣代綸旨（三月十七日）
- Important Cultural Property
- 紙本墨書後醍醐天皇王道再興綸旨（元弘三年三月十四日）
- Important Cultural Property
- 赤絲威肩白鎧〈兜大袖付／〉
- Important Cultural Property
- 銅戈 硬玉勾玉
- Important Cultural Property
- 出雲大社宇迦橋大鳥居
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 出雲大社彰古館
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
Source: the national register. All of them together →
Festivals
- Principal annual festival
-
5月14日 例祭
source
Other festivals and rituals
- 大祭礼
- 5月14日〜16日
- 凉殿祭
- 6月1日
- 神幸祭
- 8月14日
- 神在祭
- 旧暦10月
old-calendar date - 古伝新嘗祭
- 11月23日
Nearest ichinomiya
The closest is Mononobe Jinja, about 31 km to the south-west in a straight line, the ichinomiya of Iwami Province. After that come Kumano Taisha (35 km east) and Yurahime Jinja (81 km north).
Straight-line distances between the shrines, not road distances. Across mountains or water, the drive is much longer.
Why this shrine is called an ichinomiya
No primary source found
We could not find any primary source calling this shrine an ichinomiya — not the shrine’s own site, and not any public body. We say so rather than assume.
Listed on the map published by the Ichinomiya Pilgrimage Association.
Neither the shrine’s own website nor the Shimane Prefecture Shrine Agency’s page for it uses the words “ichinomiya” or “ichinomiya of Izumo Province”. All that could be confirmed is the account of Ōkuninushi no Ōkami opening up the land and handing the land over; no primary source for treating it as the ichinomiya of Izumo Province could be found.
- https://izumooyashiro.or.jp/about (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://www.shimane-jinjacho.or.jp/izumo/505313df55b97c51c97c5c69a7f379120fecab64.html (checked 2026-09-09)
- 全国一の宮巡拝会『全国一の宮神社所在地』（平成30年5月・改訂版 第4版） (checked 2026-09-09)
More on how the shrines of this province relate to one another is on the Izumo Province page.
Historical rank
- Province
- Izumo Province (San'indō)
- Prefecture
- Shimane
- Engishiki (927)
- Myōjin Taisha
- Former state rank (1871–1946)
- Kanpei Taisha
Sources
- https://izumooyashiro.or.jp/about (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://www.shimane-jinjacho.or.jp/izumo/505313df55b97c51c97c5c69a7f379120fecab64.html (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://izumo-kankou.gr.jp/13218 (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://www.kankou-shimane.com/pickup/36835.html (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://izumooyashiro.or.jp/archives/faq/7898 (checked 2026-09-10)
- https://izumooyashiro.or.jp/archives/faq/7882 (checked 2026-09-10)
- https://izumooyashiro.or.jp/precinct/keidai-index/gohonden (checked 2026-09-10)
How we handle spellings, festival selection, former ranks and map accuracy is set out once on the About page.