was an old province of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally ) is an island country An island country or an island nation is a country A country is a distinct territory, territorial body or political entity. It is often referred to as the land of an in ...

Japan

which today consists of the eastern part of

Shimane Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Shimane Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-least populous prefecture of Japan at 665,205 (February 1, 2021) and has a geo ...

. It was sometimes called . The province is in the

Chūgoku Region The , also known as the region, is the westernmost region In geography Geography (from Ancient Greek, Greek: , ''geographia'', literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabita ...

History

During the early Kofun period (3rd century) this region was independent and constructed rectangular

tumuli A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound A mound is a heaped pile of earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbour and support life. 29.2% of Earth's surface is land consisting of co ...

tumuli

. But in the fourth century this region saw the construction of rectangular and key shaped tumuli. During the 6th or 7th century it was absorbed due to the expansion of the state of

Yamato was originally the area around today's Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan, which became Yamato Province and by extension a name for the whole of Japan. Yamato is also the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial House of Japan. Japanese hist ...

, within which it assumed the role of a

sacerdotal Sacerdotalism (from Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken in the area around Rome, known as Latium. Through the power of the ...

domain. Even today, the

Izumo Shrine , officially Izumo Ōyashiro, is one of the most ancient and important Shinto shrine A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami (often taken to mean "gods A deity or god is a supernatural ...

constitutes (as does the

Grand Shrine of Ise The , located in Ise, Mie Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan , image_flag = Flag of Japan.svg , alt_flag = Centered deep red circle on a white rectangle , image_coat = Imperial S ...

) one of the most important sacred places of

Shinto Shinto () is a religion which originated in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. ...

Shinto

: it is dedicated to ''

kami (often taken to mean "gods A deity or god is a supernatural The supernatural encompasses supposed phenomena or entities that are not subject to the laws of nature. This term is attributed to non-physical entities, such as angel ...

'', especially to

Ōkuninushi Ōkuninushi ( historical orthography: ''Ohokuninushi''), also known as Ō(a)namuchi (''Oho(a)namuchi'') or Ō(a)namochi (''Oho(a)namochi'') among other variants, is a ''kami (often taken to mean "gods A deity or god is a supernatural ...

(''Ō-kuni-nushi-no-mikoto''), mythical progeny of

Susanoo __FORCETOC__ Susanoo (; historical orthography: , ) is a in Japanese mythology Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto and Buddhism, ...

and all the clans of Izumo. The mythological mother of Japan, the goddess

Izanami is a creator deity A creator deity or creator god (often called the Creator) is a deity A deity or god is a supernatural The supernatural encompasses supposed phenomena that are not subject to the laws of nature.https://www.merri ...

, is said to be buried on Mt. Hiba, at the border of the old provinces of Izumo and Hōki, near modern-day

Yasugi is a Cities of Japan, city located in Shimane Prefecture, Japan. As of March 1, 2017, the city has an estimated population of 38,875 and a population density of 92 persons per km². The total area is . Yasugi was elevated to city status on April ...

. By the

Sengoku period The is a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war, social upheaval, and intrigue from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan ...

, Izumo had lost much of its importance. It was dominated before the

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai are the simplified forms of kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters that are used in the Japanese writing system. They are used alongside the Japanese language, Japanese syllabic sc ...

by the

Mōri clan The Mōri clan (毛利氏 ''Mōri-shi'') was a Japanese samurai clan descended from Ōe no Hiromoto. The family's most illustrious member, Mōri Motonari, greatly expanded the clan's power in Aki Province or Geishū () was a Provinces of ...

, and after Sekigahara, it was an independent fief with a castle town at modern

Matsue is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Shimane Prefecture, Japan, located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 202,008 (February 1, 2021) following the merger with Higashiizumo, Shimane, Higashiizumo from Yat ...

. In Japanese mythology, the entrance to

Yomi is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally ) is an island country An island country or an island nation is a country A country is a distinct territory, ...

(Hell, land of the dead) was located within the province, and was sealed by the god

Izanagi Izanagi (イザナギ) or Izanaki (イザナキ) is a creator deity A creator deity or creator god (often called the Creator) is a deity A deity or god is a supernatural The supernatural encompasses supposed phenomena that are not s ...

by placing a large boulder over the entrance.

Historical districts

** Aika District (秋鹿郡) - merged with Ou and Shimane Districts to become Yatsuka District (八束郡) on April 1, 1896 ** Iishi District (飯石郡) ** Izumo District (出雲郡) - merged with Kando and Tatenui Districts to become Hikawa District (簸川郡) on April 1, 1896 ** Kando District (神門郡) - merged with Izumo and Tatenui Districts to become Hikawa District on April 1, 1896 ** Nita District, Shimane, Nita District (仁多郡) ** Nogi District, Shimane, Nogi District (能義郡) - dissolved ** Ohara District, Shimane, Ohara District (大原郡) - dissolved ** Ou District, Shimane, Ou District (意宇郡) - merged with Aika and Shimane Districts to become Yatsuka District on April 1, 1896 ** Shimane District, Shimane, Shimane District (島根郡) - merged with Aika and Ou Districts to become Yatsuka Districton April 1, 1896 ** Tatenui District, Shimane, Tatenui District (楯縫郡) - merged with Izumo and Kando Districts to become Hikawa District on April 1, 1896

Notes

References

* Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005)
''Japan encyclopedia.''
Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
OCLC 58053128

External links

Izumo Province, {{Shimane-geo-stub

History

Historical districts

See also

Notes

References

External links