🏮 Izumo Taisha Kamiari Sai

出雲大社神在祭

Taisha, Shimane (Izumo Grand Shrine) · Every year in mid October

71 days to go
Rooms around Taisha, Shimane fill up while the festival is on.

Centered on Izumo Taisha in Taisha-cho, Izumo City, Shimane Prefecture, the Kannazuki Festival is held in the tenth month of the lunar calendar and is a traditional event where gods from all over Japan are believed to gather in Izumo. In other regions, the tenth lunar month is called Kannazuki (the month without gods), but in the Izumo region it is called Kamiarizuki (the month with gods), meaning the gods are present. On the eve of the tenth day of the tenth lunar month, the Kami-mukae Shinji (welcoming the gods ceremony) is held at Inasa Beach, the legendary site of the transfer of the land, to welcome the gods. For seven days from the following eleventh to the seventeenth, the gods gather at Izumo Taisha and hold the Kamuhakari (divine conference) at the upper shrine to the west of the main shrine, where they are believed to decide people's relationships and various matters of life. The gods stay at the Jukusha shrines on the east and west of the main hall, and on the seventeenth and twenty-sixth they are sent off with the Kando-shide Sai (farewell ceremony). Additionally, Kannazuki festivals are held at surrounding shrines such as Sada Shrine, Hinomisaki Shrine, and Mankusen Shrine, and it is said that from Mankusen Shrine the gods return to their respective provinces.

Getting there

The area around Izumo Taisha is very crowded during the Kannazuki Festival period. For detailed parking and traffic information, please check the Izumo Taisha area congestion and parking information site.