Japan · Shimane-ken
Where to Stay in Izumo, Shimane-ken
Izumo is a town on the San'in coast of western Japan, guardian of one of the oldest and greatest shrines in the land.
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Where to stay in Izumo
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Where you stay in Izumo turns on the shrine. The old road up to Izumo Taisha keeps the inns, the teahouses, and the shops within a walk, and staying by the shrine suits anyone here for the sacred sights. The lanterns light the shrine road.
Rooms fill the old pilgrim inns. Out toward the town centre and the coast, the streets run wider and plainer. A room in the town trades the shrine road for the station, the shops, and an easy way to Lake Shinji and the sea.
Beyond the last streets the hills turn green and steep. If you want the shrine, stay by the approach; if you want the town, take a room in the centre. Either way, the great shrine is close at hand.
About Izumo
Izumo is known for its ancient grand shrine.
What is Izumo known for?
The great Izumo Taisha, one of the holiest shrines in Japan, stands among the hills here, hung with a huge rope of woven straw, and old belief holds that all the gods of the land gather here each autumn. Bronze swords of the ancients lie in its museums. Shrine and gods mark the town.
What are the main landmarks in Izumo?
Izumo Taisha is the great shrine of the town. Its ancient halls, hung with one of the largest sacred ropes in Japan, stand among the wooded hills, the emblem of Izumo, at the head of a long approach. The coast and lake lie near.
The Hinomisaki Shrine and lighthouse crown a cape to the west, while Lake Shinji and the Izumo museums, with their ancient bronzes, spread across the plain.
What is the history of Izumo?
Izumo is one of the cradles of old Japan. Its grand shrine is named in the oldest chronicles as a seat of the gods, and its lands hold bronze swords and bells buried three thousand years ago, among the greatest such finds in the country. The shrine drew the whole land.
Pilgrims came from every province to the great shrine, and in the old belief the gods of Japan left their own shrines each autumn to gather here in council. A town grew around the holy place. Inns, teahouses, and shops spread along the road to the shrine, serving the pilgrims who came in their thousands, and the town lived by the faith.
The old ways held on here. While much of Japan changed, Izumo kept its ancient rites and its huge straw rope, rebuilt in the old style through the centuries. The gods still gather each autumn.
Izumo guards its grand shrine on the western sea.
Where is Izumo?
Izumo lies on the San'in coast of western Japan, by the shore of Lake Shinji. The town spreads across a plain between the Sea of Japan and low green hills, in the far west of Honshu, where the old shrine sits among wooded slopes. Green hills rise behind the plain.
The lake and the sea lie close by.
What is the climate of Izumo?
Izumo has a mild, damp coastal climate. Warm, wet summers and cool, snowy winters cross the coast, kept damp by the Sea of Japan, with cloud and rain through much of the year. Snow falls on the hills in winter.
The coast stays grey and green much of the year.
How do you get to Izumo?
Izumo lies on the San'in coast in the west of Honshu. Trains and a small airport link the town to Matsue and the wider country, and a private line runs right to the shrine gate. Local buses link Izumo with the fishing towns along the San'in coast.
Most arrive by train along the coast.
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Updated August 2026