You float a sheet of paper with a coin on it: if it sinks within 15 minutes, love will be near.
In the woods behind the main shrine, the path leads to the Kagami-no-ike, the mirror pond: you buy a sheet of paper at the office (100 yen), place a ten- or hundred-yen coin on it and let it slide onto the water. If it sinks within a quarter of an hour, the encounter will be near; if it takes more than half an hour, it will be far off, and the distance at which it sinks tells whether the other person will be local or from elsewhere. The myth is that of Susanoo, who according to tradition built an eightfold fence (yaegaki) here to protect Kushinadahime from the serpent Yamata no Orochi, after defeating it.
Shinto shrine on the outskirts of Matsue, linked to the myth of Susanoo and Kushinadahime: according to tradition, it was founded at Suga (now Unnan) and later moved to the Sakusa woods. It is mentioned in the 10th-century Engishiki and is the fourteenth stop on the pilgrimage of the eight shrines of Izumo (出雲國神仏霊場).
ℹ️ Full visit in about 40 minutes. Car park with 100 spaces. Bus route 63 from Matsue, about 20 minutes.
🚉 八重垣神社 · in front of the station
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