Susa Shrine — 須佐神社

Tucked in a mountain basin in Izumo, Shimane, Susa Shrine — 須佐神社 — holds a distinction no other shrine can claim: it is the very place where Susanoo-no-Mikoto chose to enshrine his own spirit after completing his work upon the earth. The basin is still and green, the cedar behind the main hall is over a thousand years old, and a well on the grounds draws water that tastes faintly of the sea.

The shrine is listed among the Enza-no-kai’s eighteen sacred sites of historic Izumo, placing it in elite company alongside Izumo-taisha and Kumano-taisha. It has been revered as Susanoo’s honmiya — his true home — since antiquity, and that gravity is present the moment you pass through the zuishinmon gate.

The earliest written record of Susa Shrine appears in the Izumo no Kuni Fudoki (733 CE), which describes Susanoo touring the land and arriving at Susa, declaring it a fine country and choosing to attach his name to the soil rather than to stone or wood. He then settled his divine spirit here — an act of deliberate, personal consecration unusual in Japanese myth. The Engishiki (927 CE) lists the shrine as Susa Jinja, a minor official shrine (shōsha).

Through the medieval period the shrine was called Jūsansho Daimyōjin and later Susa no Ōmiya. The ruling Susa clan, hereditary priests who traced their lineage to Ōkuninushi via Susanoo’s son, maintained the precinct across the centuries. In the Meiji reorganization, the shrine was formally renamed Susa Jinja in 1871, elevated to prefectural shrine in 1873, and upgraded to kokuhei shōsha (national minor shrine) in 1900.

The principal deity is Susanoo-no-Mikoto (素戔嗚尊), the storm god of Japanese mythology — brother of Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi, and the slayer of the eight-headed serpent Yamata-no-Orochi. Enshrined alongside him as auxiliary deities are his wife Inadahime-no-Mikoto (稲田比売命), the daughter he rescued from Orochi, and her parents Ashinazuchi-no-Mikoto (足摩槌命) and Tenazuchi-no-Mikoto (手摩槌命), the elderly couple whose daughter Susanoo saved. Tenazuchi is also honored as an ancestral deity of the Susa priestly family. This arrangement of the storm god with his rescued bride and her parents gives the shrine an intimacy that mirrors the founding legend directly.

The founding myth is the shrine’s most powerful legend. The Fudoki records that after Susanoo had opened and cultivated the land across Izumo, he arrived at Susa and said: “This is a good land. I will not put my name on a rock or a tree — I will put it on the land itself.” He named the place Susa, enshrined his spirit, and departed. That act of naming is why locals have always called this Susanoo’s true dwelling.

The shrine also preserves seven wonders of its grounds. A cherry tree on the precinct reportedly casts no shadow at noon. The sacred well — called the Shio-no-i (Saltwater Well) — is said to connect underground to the Sea of Japan: when the tide rises, salt crystals appear on the earth around it. Analysis has confirmed the water as a weak alkaline saline spring. Susanoo is said to have drawn this water himself to purify the land.

The main hall (honden) is a Shimane Prefecture–designated cultural property, built in 1861 in the taisha-zukuri style — the same ancient architectural form used at Izumo-taisha. It stands approximately 12 metres tall on a two-bay-square (hō ni-ken) plan, with the entry stairway set to the right bay. Flanking the main precinct are a kaguraden (ritual dance hall), a shamusho (office), and the sacred saltwater well.

The great cedar behind the main hall is the shrine’s most arresting feature: estimated at 1,300 years old, with a trunk circumference of seven metres and a height of thirty metres. A protective fence was installed after visitors began stripping bark as a souvenir following a popular spirituality publication. Subsidiary shrines within the precincts include Tenshō-sha (enshrining Amaterasu), the East and West末社 enshrining the Munakata goddesses and other deities of the Susanoo lineage, and Miho-sha dedicated to Mihōtsu-hime and Kotoshiro-nushi.

The shrine’s most ceremonially dense period falls across 18–19 April. The Reisai (Annual Festival) on 18 April includes the Chōkin-sai, a procession in which the deity travels from the main hall across the road to the Tenshō-sha (Amaterasu’s shrine) — a symbolic reunion of the storm god and his solar sister.

The following day, 19 April, is the Kodensai (Ancient Rite Festival), one of the most unusual observances in Izumo. The Ryūō-no-mai, a bugaku court-dance sequence depicting the tilling and seeding of fields, is performed — its choreography believed to descend from onmyōji (yin-yang master) traditions. The afternoon Hyakute Shinji (Hundred-Hand Rite) is an archery ceremony for driving away evil and praying for a good harvest. On 15 August, the Kirime Shinji includes the Nenbutsu Odori, a syncretic circle dance that blends medieval field-dance and Buddhist chanting — its steps slow and repetitive to flute, and classified as an Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Shimane Prefecture.

Mid-April rewards visitors with the full Reisai and Kodensai sequence — the most concentrated display of Susa’s ancient rites. The precinct is uncrowded compared to Izumo-taisha even during festival days, making the atmosphere unhurried. Autumn (October–November) brings the forested basin to colour, and the giant cedar seen against red maples is striking. Avoid the Obon period in August only if you wish to witness the Nenbutsu Odori on 15 August, as parking is limited.