Karakama Shrine

Published: Aug 11, 2026

Updated: Aug 11, 2026

Karakama Shrinerock creviceSusanooIzumomountain shrine

Representative image — not a photograph of this location.

Karakama Shrine is reached by squeezing through a gap in a rock. The approach climbs a steep flight of stone steps into the hills above Izumo, and at the top the path runs into a boulder split by a crevice roughly forty centimetres wide. There is no way round it. You turn sideways, go through, and the shrine is on the other side.

The deity is Susanoo, and the local legend attaches him to a great rock nearby called the Iwafune, the stone boat, said to be the vessel he arrived in when he brought forestry and ironworking techniques from Silla — which ties this small shrine to the iron-sand industry that shaped inland Izumo. It is about 800 metres uphill from the nearest parking, on stone steps that are slick with moss and water in any damp weather. Very few foreign visitors have heard of it, and it is not a place to attempt casually or in the wrong shoes.

Essential Information

Opening Hours

Grounds open during daylight hours

Closed: Open year-round | Approach hazardous in rain, ice or after dark

Entrance Fee

Free

Best Season

Late April–May and October–November | Avoid wet weather

Visit Duration

60–90 minutes including the walk up

Getting There

Access Information

408 Karakawa-cho, Izumo. Car required — about 45 minutes from Hikawa IC toward Gakuenji, or around 25 minutes from Unshu-Hirata Station. Three parking areas, with roughly 800 metres of uphill approach from the nearest to the torii. Free to enter. Slippery stone steps and a rock crevice around 40 cm wide on the final approach.

Insider Guide

Premium

**The crevice is not optional and not wide.** Roughly forty centimetres, taken sideways. A large frame or a bulky backpack will not fit — leave the pack at the base of the rock. This is the single thing to know before deciding to come. **Shoes decide whether this works.** The stone steps are old, uneven and hold moss and water. In or after rain they are genuinely dangerous. Grippy soles are the minimum; do not attempt it in anything smooth. **Eight hundred metres is uphill all the way.** From the nearest car park to the torii is a steady climb before the steps even begin. Budget the time and the water. **Combine with Gakuenji.** The temple at Gakuenji, famous for autumn colour and its own mountain setting, is on the same road, and doing both is the natural way to spend a day in these hills. **Do not go in poor weather or near dark.** There is no lighting, no staff and no phone signal to speak of. This is a mountain shrine visited alone; the sensible rule is fair weather and daylight only.

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