Inasa no Hama

photo by Nesnad · CC BY 4.0

photo by Aimaimyi · CC BY-SA 3.0

This is where, the myth says, the gods of Japan come ashore: already in the Kojiki, in 712.

The beach appears in the Kojiki (712) as 伊那佐の小濱 and in the Nihon Shoki as 五十田狭の小汀: it is the setting of the Kuniyuzuri myth, the handing over of the land from Ōkuninushi to the heavenly gods. In the middle of the beach, the Bentenjima rock bears a small shrine, now dedicated to Watatsumi, god of the sea. On the night of the tenth day of the tenth lunar month, the eight million Japanese gods are said to land right here before reaching Izumo Taisha for their annual assembly: those who take part in the rite then carry a little sand from the beach to the Sunayama at Izumo Taisha, in exchange for the sand left there before.

Beach on the Taisha coast, in Izumo, listed among the ‘Hundred beaches of Japan’ (日本の渚百選). It is the shoreline where Shinto myth meets the everyday life of those who swim here in summer: in 2023 two current-related accidents on two consecutive days also showed the danger of its rip currents.

ℹ️ Free access at any time; free public car park. About 1 km on foot or by car from Izumo Taisha, on the same coast.

🚉 Izumo Taisha-mae · 30 min walk

Sources: ja.wikipedia.org

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