Moopon

1. Once visitors exit immigration and customs at Kansai Airport, visitors will be on the 1st floor. Follow the signs for “Railways”, taking one of the 4 escalators or 3 elevators to arrive at the 2nd floor.

2. Once on the 2nd floor, follow the signs to one of several walkways and walk across the road to Kansai-airport Station. Visitors need to exit the air terminal building to arrive at the JR Station (two separate buildings connected by a walkway). Two train companies use Kansai-airport Station: JR (blue/green) and Nankai (orange). Only JR can take visitor to the platform Haruka departing from. DO NOT use Nankai.

3. Before entering tickets gate, find JR Ticket Office where visitors can purchase ticket or reserved ticket for JR train.(there is a huge sign in English above their head).JR ticket office staff may or may not speak English, but they can read place names and train types written in the Roman alphabet. 

4. With one’s tickets, go through JR ticket gate and take an escalator to get to Platform 4.

One of Japan’s oldest shrines, Izumo Grand Shrine, Izumo Taisha (出雲大社) lies in Izumo City, Shimane Prefecture.

No one knows the exact date of when the shrine was constructed.

However, the existence of the shrine was apparent in the early 700s according to Japan’s oldest chronicles.

Izumo Taisha’s main deity (kami) is the Okunininushi no Okami. According to legend, Okuninushi was creator of the land in which Japan lies as well as the ruler of Izumo.

He also has another role, which is the deity of good relations and marriage.

At Japanese shrines, before a prayer, we clap twice.  However, at Izumo Taisha, we clap four times—twice for ourselves and twice for our partner, present or future.

The Kamiari Festival is held at Izumo Taisha every year, from the 10th to the 17th day of the 10th lunar month.

 During this period, it is said Shinto’s eight million deities from across Japan gather at Izumo Taisha.

 The 10th lunar month is known as Kamiarizuki (“month with deities”) in Izumo and Kannazuki (“month without deities”) elsewhere in Japan.

Izumo Taisha’s grounds are quite large and spacious.  There are many torii gates and halls, that visitors can explore the grounds to see and experience the magnificence of this shrine.
 

Some places of special importance:

 Matsu no Sando: walking north of the large wooden torii gate (entrance into the shrine), the road divides into 3 paths by the pine trees.  Please do not use the center path, as it is said this path is reserved for the deities.  

 Shimenawa in Worship Hall (Haiden): as visitors enter the main shrine grounds, they will see a wooden structure with a huge sacred straw rope (shimenawa) hung across the structure. The shimenawa signifies the presence of a deity and separates divine space from the mortal world. Large shimenawa are a characteristic of this region, found also at other shrines in Izumo.

 Main Hall (Honden):  behind the worship hall, Honden is 24 meters tall.  It is the tallest shrine building in Japan.  The current structure, built in 1744, is constructed architecture style is called Taisha-zukuri.  Taisha-zukuri is a purely Japanese style which predates the entry of Buddhism into Japan.

 Jukusha:  in the outer fence area there are two long wooden structures on both sides of the main sanctuary. Jukusha is where the deities meet when they gather for their yearly meeting.
  

Access Information:
Izumo Taisha is located in the outskirts of Izumo City, about one hour west of Matsue. Izumo's main railway station is called Izumoshi Station.
 

From Izumoshi Station
From the railway station, Izumo Taisha can be reached by either train or bus.
*By Train:
**Via Ichibata Railways. Transfer trains at Kawato Station.  Disembark at Izumo Taisha-mae Station.  The journey will take about 20 minutes and the one way fare is 490 yen.
From Izumo Taisha-mae station, it takes about 5 minutes on foot to the shrine.
*By Bus:
**Board the bus from bus stop number one.  There is a bus departing the station every 30 minutes or so.  The bus ride should take about 25 minutes and the cost is 520 yen one way.
 

From Matsue City
From Matsue, Izumo Taisha is most easily reached by Ichibata Railways:
*By Train:
**Board the train from Matsue Shinjiko Onsen Station.  Transfer trains at Kawato Station. Disembark at Izumo Taisha-mae Station.  The journey will take about 60 minutes and the one way fare is 810 yen. (Visitors have the option of purchasing a one day pass for unlimited usage of Ichibata trains for 1500 yen)
From Izumo Taisha-mae station, it takes about 5 minutes on foot to the shrine.
**For Japan Rail Pass holder, taking a JR train from Matsue to Izumoshi Station (25-40 minutes) may be better.  For access information from Izumoshi Station, refer to the above “From Izumoshi Station” section.


 

Matsue, located between the shores of Lake Shinji (Shinjiko) and Lake Nakaumi, is known as the water city. Being the capital of Shimane Prefecture, Matsue is not only the center of commerce, but has traditionally roots.

This samurai city’s places to see includes the Matsue Castle, famous for being one of the few original wooden castles still existing in Japan. The former residence of Lafcadio Hearn’s, an Irish journalist, is another popular sights. The Ohashi River divides the city into two parts. Not being a big city to explore, visitors can walk around the various sights, perhaps while enjoying wagashi, Japanese traditional sweets, which Matsue is also famous for.

The beautiful Adachi Museum of Art, located in Yasugi City, Shimane Prefecture, was founded in the hopes of combining natural garden beauty with artwork to increase interest and appreciation in Japanese art.

 The founder, Adachi Zenko, created the museum in 1980, utilizing his passion for Japanese art and landscaping.

The award winning garden at Adachi Museum of Art is a sight visitors do not want to miss.

 Deservingly it has received the best garden award in Japan every since 2003.  

The flowers, leaves, etc., change according to the season, allowing visitors to enjoy its beauty throughout the year.  

However, the garden can only be viewed from the museum building.

The art exhibits in the Adachi Museum of Art also change seasonally.  

The museum is home to nearly 1300 twentieth century paintings and artworks.

In addition to rotating collection, the museum has a permanent display of paintings by Yokoyama Taikan.

There is also a ceramics exhibit.

Hours: 9:00 to 17:30 (until 17:00 from October to March)
Closed: Opened all Year Round
Admission: 2300 yen (50% off for foreign visitors)
 
Access Information:
**From Matsue Station, take a train to Yasugi Station.  The journey is about 20 minutes and the cost is 410 yen (Japan Rail Pass holders can utilize their Rail Pass here).
From Yasugi Station, board the free shuttle bus to the museum. There is one shuttle bus every hour. The bus ride is about 20 minutes.
**From Okayama, there are limited express trains that stop at Yasugi Station before proceeding to Matsue City.  



 

Matsue Castle (松江城), located in Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture, is one of the few original wooden castle remaining in Japan. Since the end of the feudal times, only about a dozen castles remain in Japan.  Visitors will be lucky to learn this “original” castle tower has survived wars, fires, earthquakes and anti-feudal activities during the post-feudal era.

Matsuejo (jo=castle) was completed in 1611 by the local lord Horio Yoshiharu. However in 1638, relatives of the Tokugawa Shogun, the Matsudaira clan received this castle.

Hours: 8:30 to 18:30 (until 17:00 from October to March)
Admission ends 30 minutes before closing time.
Closed: Opened All Year Round
Admission: 560 yen (castle only, 50% off for foreign tourists)
1160 yen (also includes samurai residence, Hearn residence and Hearn memorial museum)
920 yen (also includes two more sites of your choice from the three sites listed above)

Access Information:
**30 minute walk from JR Matsue Station
**15 minute walk from Ichibata Dentetsu's Matsue-Shinjiko-Onsen Station
**from JR Matsue Station or Ichibata Dentetsu's Matsue-Shinjiko-Onsen Station board the “Lake Line” loop bus