Suga Shrine Izumo

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. Izumo no Kuni Shinbutsu Pilgrimage 出雲國神仏霊場編 .
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Suga Jinja 須我神社 Shrine Suga Jinja, Izumo

島根県雲南市大東町須賀260 / 260 Daitocho Suga, Unnan, Shimane

The Deities in residence are Susano-O and Kushinada Hime.

- quote
Suga Shrine [須賀神社]
is a little off the beaten path.
Japan’s First Capital
Ironically, this somewhat remote area is the mythological first capital of Japan, as denoted by this sign:

- Shrine Grounds
So what is about this relatively small shrine out in the middle of almost nowhere?
Why did we both going through all the trouble to get here?
Speaking from the mythological of the Kojiki, Suga Shrine is where Susano-o and Kushinada lived
after the defeat of Yamata no Orochi.
Upon arriving here Susano-o felt rather inspired and recited the first poem in Japanese literature.
This same poem is on a large rock just inside of the shrine. Roughly translated it reads:

In Izumo, where the clouds form,
I see a fence of clouds.
To protect my wife, I too, built a fence.
These clouds are as my fence.

From our perspective it is so cool to be in not only Japan’s first recorded capital (even if it is just a myth), but also the place where a mythical god recited the first poem in Japanese literature.

Ema of Suga Shrine depicting Susano-o and Kushinada

Just behind the haiden is the the hoden, the main shrine building,
where Susano-o, his wife Kushinada, and their child, Yashimajinumi no kami, are enshrined.

Yakumo Yama
Sometimes shrines in Japan have two parts; that main shrine rests at the foot of the mountain, but another part of the shrine that lies near the top of the mountain. The part of the shrine at the top of the mountain is called a okunomiya [奥の宮], and that is what we were hoping to get a glace of. In the case of Suga Shrine, the okunomiya is on top of Yakumoyama.
If you head back to the road with the signs for the shrine, you will see that that road it keeps going. You will need to follow that same road for quite some time before you see another sign on your left that will point you in the direction of Yakumo yama. It is not all that far of a walk, about three kilometers or so to reach the mountain, which albeit isn’t that big.

I encourage anyone going out that way to plan time for walking up Yakumo yama.
The surrounding landscape is really lovely and it is not a hard hike at all.
Take a few things with you for a light lunch and it would be a great outing.
- source : kansai-odyssey.com/suga-shrine ...

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shuin　朱印 stamp

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- - - - - Homepage of the Shrine
- source : suga-jinja.or.jp ...
- source : kansai-odyssey.com/suga-shrine ... -
- reference source : nippon-reijo.jimdofree ... -

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This Shrine is Nr. 16 of the
. Izumo no Kuni Shinbutsu Pilgrimage 出雲國神仏霊場編 .

. kami　神　Shinto deities .

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