The Month When Every God in Japan Leaves Home

The Belief In the tenth month of the old lunar calendar, the deities of Japan are said to travel to Izumo, on the Sea of Japan coast in what is now Shimane, and to remain there for the duration. Everywhere else is left unattended; Izumo is full.

What they are said to be doing there is the good part. They are holding a conference, and the business of it is en-musubi: the tying of bonds. Which people should meet. Which should marry. Which connections should be made in the coming year. The most consequential meeting in the divine calendar is, on this account, an enormous matchmaking session.

The Arrival The deities are held to come in from the sea, and the ceremonies reflect it. At Inasa beach near Izumo Taisha, a rite is held at night to welcome them ashore, and they are then escorted to the shrine and lodged in long, low buildings — the jūkusha — that flank the main precinct on both sides.

Those buildings are visible year-round and most visitors walk past them without knowing what they are. They are accommodation. For the duration of the month they are said to be occupied, and during the ceremonies they are treated accordingly.

The timing follows the lunar calendar, so in modern terms the observances fall in November rather than October, and the exact dates move year to year. Anyone travelling for it needs to check the year's schedule rather than assuming a fixed week.

Why Izumo The answer sits in the mythology. Izumo is the seat of Ōkuninushi — the kind youngest brother from the white rabbit story, who grew into the ruler of the earthly realm and then handed that realm over to the heavenly deities in the negotiated transfer called the kuni-yuzuri.

What he received in the settlement, by tradition, was authority over the unseen — over the hidden relationships and connections between things — while the visible governance passed to Amaterasu's line. That division of labour is precisely why the gods come to him to arrange bonds, and why Izumo Taisha is the country's foremost shrine for relationships.

One Deity Stays Behind The belief has a practical corollary that Japanese households take seriously enough to joke about: if all the gods are away, who is watching your shrine? The traditional answer is Ebisu, who by various explanations does not make the trip — in some tellings because he is deaf and does not hear the summons, in others because he is a sea deity with other responsibilities.

So the tenth month is also when Ebisu festivals are held in some regions, honouring the deity left minding the shop. It is an oddly domestic detail in a story about a national divine assembly, and it is very characteristic of how this material is actually held.

Going The month is the best time to visit Izumo Taisha if the mythology is what draws you, with the caveat that it is also when Japanese visitors come in numbers — this is a well-known observance, not an obscure one. Accommodation in the area needs booking.

The shrine itself is worth the trip regardless. The scale is unusual, the shimenawa rope on the subsidiary hall is among the largest in the country, and the four-clap convention rather than the standard two is a small immediate reminder that this place has its own rules. Inasa beach, a short distance away, is where the deities are said to land, and it is a good place to stand at dusk whether or not you believe any of it.