Japan Heritage story
Izumo: the sacred land where the sun sets
日が沈む聖地出雲
Seen from the ancient capital in Yamato, the sun set towards Izumo. The people of Izumo built shrines named for the setting sun, and the sunsets at Inasa beach and Hinomisaki are still some of Japan's most beautiful.
Key facts
- Theme
- Sea and waterside, Festivals and rituals
- Era
- Yayoi, Kofun
- Region
- Kansai, Chugoku
- Official name in Japanese
- 日が沈む聖地出雲
- Official subtitle in Japanese
- ～神が創り出した地の夕日を巡る～
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 島根県（出雲市）
The story
In the Kojiki's myth of the handing over of the land, the god Okuninushi met an envoy from heaven at the north end of Inasa beach and agreed to give up his rule, on condition that a palace be built for his spirit. That palace is Izumo Taisha, about 1 km inland, which the Nihon Shoki calls the Palace Where the Heavenly Sun Hides. Nearby, Hinomisaki shrine holds the Hishizumi-no-Miya, the Palace of the Sinking Sun.
From Yamato, the old seat of power, the sun went down towards Izumo, in the northwest, and Izumo came to be seen as the land of the setting sun. Even today locals greet each other in the evening with "banjimashite", a word between hello and good evening that you rarely hear elsewhere.
What to see
- Inasa beach: sunset behind the small rock of Benten-jima, on a beach about 10 km long.Google Maps 稲佐の浜 (opens in a new tab)
- Izumo Taisha: the great shrine built for Okuninushi.Google Maps 出雲大社 (opens in a new tab)
- Hinomisaki: rugged cliffs, the white Meiji-era lighthouse and Hinomisaki shrine.Google Maps 出雲日御碕灯台 (opens in a new tab)
- Fudenage-jima: the island so changeable that a famous painter threw down his brush.
Plan your trip with the Shimane prefecture guide, and see more shrines and temples and nature.
Good to know
- Stay until sunset: both Inasa beach and Hinomisaki face west over the Sea of Japan.
- On the 10th day of the 10th lunar month, the Kamimukae ritual welcomes the gods at Inasa beach after sunset.
- From spring to summer, black-tailed gulls circle Fumishima island off Hinomisaki.
Questions travellers ask
Why is Izumo called the land where the sun sets?
Seen from the old capital in Yamato, the sun set in the northwest towards Izumo, and its shrines were named for the setting sun.
Where is the best sunset in Izumo?
Inasa beach and Hinomisaki are the classic spots. Inasa is a long sandy beach; Hinomisaki has cliffs and a lighthouse.
Where it comes from
More heritage stories from the same area
- Aizu's 33 Kannon pilgrimage: faith with a day out
- Asuka: the women who shaped the birth of Japan
- Date Masamune's dazzling culture in Sendai and Matsushima
- Esashi: the herring town that outshone Edo
- Fukiya: the birthplace of Japan Red
- Gyoda: the town of tabi storehouses
- Hida no Takumi: 1,300 years of master woodworkers in Takayama
- Iga and Koka: in search of the real ninja
- Iwami kagura: gods and demons dance the old myths
- Iwami's volcanoes: Jomon forest and silver mountain in Oda
- Izumo's tatara: a thousand years of making iron
- Kamenose: crossing the landslide heart of the Tatsuta Kodo
Local foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.