Iya Jinja is a very old small shrine on the southern edge of Matsue in Shimane Prefecture. Though it’s appearance is rather lacking, the shrine is actually a very widely renowned. Considered one of the six most important shrines of the Nara Period (710-784 C.E.), Iya Jinja is a shrine explicitly for the worship of Izanami-no-Kami, goddess of creation, wife of Izanagi-no-Kami, and goddess of death. She, who died in childbirth to the fire god, was burned alive until she finally passed away and entered the underworld. When Izanagi-no-Kami attempted to bring her back, he was tasked to make his way out and not look at Izanami-no-Kami until he was outside. In his impatience, he turned to look too early and saw the walking decomposing corpse of his sister/wife standing before him. In her rage, she send the agents of the underworld to chase him out. Izanagi-no-Kami placed a boulder over the entrance to the underworld trapping Izanami-no-Kami inside. Her final act was to curse their mortal creations with a limited lifespan. Iya Jinja is therefore a shrine built to honor her for what she created and to apease her endless rage.

For the casual: 4. For the educated: 10.

If you have no interest in Japan’s origin myth, then there’s isn’t much of a reason for visiting outside of just seeing a nice shrine. But if you’re like me and you love this kind of stuff, then you’re in luck. The shrine is a small one, so it only needs to be a stop along your day, but the staff there were amazingly kind and welcoming to everyone there. The main building is build of dark brown wood with an oxidated copper roof and above the front steps hangs a large woven shimenawa, a kind of rope usually made from rice or wheat grasses which demarks a sacred or holy area. There’s not much to say about the shrine besides that it’s a single building with several small shrines in the surrounding area, but for me the highlight was actually down the road.

There is a reason why the primary shrine to Izanami-no-Kami is where it is, because down the road is the Yomotsu Hirasaka, the blocked entrance to the underworld. Genuinly this location is very small, off the beaten path, and is practically devoid of any visitors, but for those who know about the genesis story, this is where the mortality of humans was founded. A small pond and a cluster of stones is all that’s really there to see, but there is a fun feeling knowing that this is the spot. It’s like knowing where some famous person died. Sure there may not be any pomp and circumstance regarding the event, but there’s a fun feeling knowing that you know where you are, that you know what you can see. There is a separate goshuin for Yomotsu Hirasaka but it’s at the building at the base of the street and not at the boulders themselves. The man who was there when I visited was also amazingly kind and seemed so excited that someone would stop by and talk to him.

Yomotsu Hirasaka, the blocked entrance to the underworld.

The stop map is for Iya Jinja, with the bottom map being Yomotsu Hirasaka.