Izumo Province Ichinomiya
Kumano Taisha
熊野大社
Kumano Taisha is the ichinomiya — the leading shrine — of the former Izumo Province, in present-day Shimane. It has a car park (about 100 spaces), free. Opening hours end at 16:30 (shrine office). Without a car, a local tourism body gives 1 route from a station (by bus); the station names are listed below. Its principal annual festival (reisai) falls on October 14 every year. The nearest other ichinomiya is Izumo Taisha, 35 km to the west in a straight line.
Getting there
島根県松江市八雲町熊野 2451
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
- From OpenStreetMap, as 熊野大社. Not checked on the ground
- Address
How to rent and drive a car in Japan →
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By train and bus
- From 松江駅JR
- By bus.
The source, word for word (bus stop names included):
JR松江駅からバス45分（途中乗り換えあり）、熊野大社前下車徒歩5分
Taken from a local tourism body (しまね観光ナビ「熊野大社」, 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 100 spaces), free.
Shrine office hours
Opening hours end at 16:30 (shrine office).
The full note from the source, in Japanese:
8:30-16:30（参拝自由）
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
- History
- Since ancient times it has been treated, together with Kizuki Taisha (Izumo Taisha), as one of the two great shrines of Izumo Province.
- History
- The shrine received the divine ranks of Junior Third Rank in 851 and Senior Second Rank in 867.
- History
- By old custom, a new chief priest of Izumo Taisha begins his office by receiving the fire-making tools, hikiri-usu and hikiri-gine, from this shrine.
Summarised from the prefectural shrine association (島根県神社庁 熊野大社, checked 2026-10-08). Traditions are given as the shrine tells them, not as established history.
Enshrined deities
- Kaburogikumanonookamikushimikenu-no-Mikoto 神祖熊野大神櫛御気野命（素戔鳴尊）
Spelling as given by the prefectural shrine office or local authority.
Festivals
- Principal annual festival
-
10／14 例祭
source
Other festivals and rituals
- 鑽火祭
- 10月15日
- 御櫛祭
- 4月13日
- 鑽火祭・御櫛祭
- no date stated
Nearest ichinomiya
The closest is Izumo Taisha, about 35 km to the west in a straight line, in the same province. After that come Mononobe Jinja (55 km south-west) and Shizuri Jinja (77 km east).
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
Documented by a public source
A public body — the city, the prefecture, or the prefectural shrine office — describes this shrine as the ichinomiya of its province.
Listed on the map published by the Ichinomiya Pilgrimage Association.
The shrine’s name is itself written out as “Izumo no Kuni Ichinomiya Kumano Taisha”. The Shimane Prefecture Shrine Agency records that it appears as Kumano Taisha in the Izumo no Kuni Fudoki (733) and as Kumano ni Imasu Jinja in the Engishiki Jinmyōchō (927), and that it is a “great shrine of the land of Izumo” alongside Kizuki Taisha (Izumo Taisha).
- https://www.shimane-jinjacho.or.jp/matsue/6094cc9f30d3e2ec4a43243b92f36078d6508aa8.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://www.shimane-jinjacho.or.jp/matsue/6094cc9f30d3e2ec4a43243b92f36078d6508aa8.html (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://www.kankou-shimane.com/destination/20304 (checked 2026-09-09)
How we handle spellings, festival selection, former ranks and map accuracy is set out once on the About page.