Izumo Taisha: My Experiences

I t seems like a blur, my time in Izumo City. It was like going back into a time warp, with images and sensations of ancient gates, fog covered hillsides, rain moistened cobblestone, weather worn temples, and the smell of incense mixed together with steamy soba, all rolling together like a movie reel through my mind, never seeming to stop, only bringing up more memories. It was an awesome time. It was a thought provoking time.

As we drove to Japan's first Shinto Shrine, I peered out the window of our rent-a-van. A slight drizzle blanketed the city with a light mist, something you would see in a place like this. We passed soba shops, clothing stores, stationery kiosks, ryokans (inns), and other businesses along the way. I like quaint towns, especially ones steeped in history.

Izumo Taisha (shrine) was  built sometime around the first century AD or even earlier, no exact date has been found. The earliest record about Izumo Taisha from the Heian period (950 AD) stated that the temple was a 48 meter tall structure, supported by huge cedar columns, 3 meters thick. It was a huge thing. Today, a more modest version of the original behemoth structure graces the grounds below Mt. Uga. It's still big and beautiful, however, bordered by stately pine and cypress trees.

The temple houses the God, Okuninushi (the God of many names or the God of marriage). Japan's earliest literature, the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki talks about Izumo as the place where the pantheon of Japan's gods found their origin, Okuninushi being one of them. There is a rumor that all the God's of Japan gather once a year in this place.

As I walked the grounds, I was expecting to feel the oppression and heaviness associated with my earlier visits to Buddhist or Shinto temples. I didn't feel it here. It was refreshingly strange. It left me puzzled. I actually felt a cleanness, no defilement whatsoever.

I slowly walked the perimeter of the main shrine and found myself in the back, looking at a Japanese ume (plum) tree. "So this is where we get our red umeboshi seeds, so popular in musubis (rice balls)". The tree burgeoned with fruit. I love looking at stuff like this. Japan has all these wonderful sights and scenes for extremely emotional types like myself. Yes, I cry at the sight of lavender filled hill sides and UH football games that end in a win, especially over Boise St. Ha! The Japanese are masters at cultivating nature into a pristine art form. The tree was perfectly shaped. I stood in silence, enjoying the work of hundreds of years of meticulous gardening.

Then I proceeded to a small stream, trickling along round smooth stones, partially hidden by a wisteria tree, quietly carrying out its serene duty to provide the sound of fresh water.

I will write more later. It's therapeutic for me to process these things. I pray that it blesses you. Japan was and is beautiful.