After leaving our luggages at Dormy Inn Izumo which was located just outside the south exit of Izumoshi station, we set off for Izumo-Taisho shrine using the Ichibata railway line which was next to the station. Ichibata railway was not under JR so we can’t use the pass and have to purchase tickets from machines.
The pink Ichibata local train decorated with izumoshi mascot which was a cat with a shrine on its head.
It felt like Japan Hour documentary to me as some of the stations were unmanned and instead of machines, there were people checking your tickets when you get off or on the station. Quite a unique experience from the city hustle bustle feel as these places were more rural and so much less crowded.
From Izumoshi station, we took the train and change to another platform at Kawato station before arriving at Izumotaisha-Mae station which was the entrance to the shrine.
Posing with the mascot on the train.
Can even sit with it and ride together on the train. How cute is that!
Love the interior decoration of the train and most importantly, it’s so empty!
There are 4 main tori gates leading to the shrine. First is the white stone gate and the second is the wooden tori gate which leads to the temple ground.
The third gate was the steel tori.
In the center of this steel tori gate was a row of cedar trees believed to be 400 years old. This path was fenced off as it was believed that this was the path that the deties took and humans are supposed to walk along the two paths besides the tori gate.
The cherry blossoms here were still in full bloom.
It was a quiet and peaceful place.
These were many small statues of rabbits all around the place.
The final tori gate was made of bronze and was believed to be the oldest bronze gate in Japan.
It was the smallest among all the tori gates leading here.
The way to pray at this shrine was slightly different. I used this website as my guide
Izumo Taisha is one of the oldest Shinto shrine in Japan and dates back to the 700s. Wow, that v old to me as the year is in 3 digits instead of 4 digits.
It is said that, if you visit this shrine, you will have great luck in your love/marriage life and personal relationships. Noticed that most of the people here were ladies...haha...well for me, I hope for better personal relationship with people around me as I feel this is something v important and sometimes, it’s not within my control.
The giant woven straw rope was believed to designate a scared space, marking the boundary between the scared world and the real world. The one behind us was the biggest in Japan and weigh more than 3000kg.
Back view of the shrine. V unique architecture which I dun see in other shrines in Japan.
More cute rabbit statues.
Lunch at Soba Takanaya, a small soba shop located outside the main entrance of the shrine. Seems to be v popular due to its many great reviews online.
The way of eating soba here was different. The soba also taste more al dente and had a stronger soba taste as compared to normal soba.
We also ordered the red bean dessert which used soba to make the knot and a heart shaped chewy mochi like thing. Overall, it is interesting and tasted good. We were given iPads with English to help us order when the server realized we arent Japanese. Haha....service was v good too. Highly recommended!
Back at Dormy Inn Izumo, our luggages were already placed in our rooms when we came back and checked in. Think that was one of the good service provided by the hotel as not many did such thing.
JR Izumoshi station.
Our room for the next 2 nights.
There was complimentary coffee and tea in the hotel lobby 24hrs. Besides that, each guest also get
a complimentary beer and snack located on the top floor of the hotel with a nice night view. There was outdoor Onsen but I did not go. The thing I like about Dormy Inn was that they have complimentary ramen/soba cooked on the spot for you around 8.30pm.
My free ramen. Taste not bad too.
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