Izumo Taisha Shrine

　　"Minshuku Tanabe", which I wrote about in the last entry, is located in the Izumo region in Shimane Prefecture. The Izumo region features in Japanese mythology and is home to Izumo Taisha, a shrine with a remarkably long history. The main hall is 24 meters high. It's the largest shrine building in Japan. As for the magnitude of the shrine, important and wonderful evidence was excavated recently. I'll write about the great excavation of the century later or in the following entry.
　　The shrine was one of our main destinations on this trip. The first picture shows us at the entrance of the shrine. The next two pictures were shot on the approach to the main building.
　　Izumo Taisha is dedicated to Okuninushi no Mikoto, the deity believed to have created Japan. Japanese mythology says that he gave the country of his making to the imperial ancestor deity, Amaterasu Omikami. The statue, showing this mythological scene, was set along the approach.
　　Additionally, Okuninushi is known as a god of love. He has been worshipped over the centuries because he's believed to possess special powers to help people pair up romantically. According to legend, all of Japan's gods gather in Izumo every October to hold discussions and make all kinds of arrangements for worldly matters: not just who will marry whom, but also who will get what job and so on.
　　Even today, a ritual is held at the shrine to welcome the gods from all around the country.