was an old province of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

which today consists of the eastern part of Shimane Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province is in the

Chūgoku region The , also known as the region, is the westernmost region of Honshū, the largest island of Japan. It consists of the prefectures of Hiroshima, Okayama, Shimane, Tottori, and Yamaguchi. In 2010, it had a population of 7,563,428. History ''Ch ...

History

During the early Kofun period (3rd century) this region was independent and constructed rectangular 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, within which it assumed the role of a sacerdotal domain. Today, the Izumo Shrine constitutes (as does the Grand Shrine of Ise) one of the most important sacred places of

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shint ...

: it is dedicated to ''

kami are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the sp ...

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

Susanoo __FORCETOC__ Susanoo (; historical orthography: , ) is a in Japanese mythology. The younger brother of Amaterasu, goddess of the sun and mythical ancestress of the Japanese imperial line, he is a multifaceted deity with contradictory charact ...

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

Izanami , formally known as , is the creator deity of both creation and death in Japanese mythology, as well as the Shinto mother goddess. She and her brother-husband Izanagi are the last of the seven generations of primordial deities that manifested ...

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

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

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

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 ( Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu prefecture, Japan, at the end of ...

by the

Mōri clan The Mōri clan (毛利氏 ''Mōri-shi'') was a Japanese samurai clan descended from Ōe no Hiromoto. Ōe no Hiromoto was descended from the Fujiwara clan. The family's most illustrious member, Mōri Motonari, greatly expanded the clan's power ...

, and after Sekigahara, it was an independent fief with a castle town at modern Matsue. In Japanese mythology, the entrance to

Yomi is the Japanese word for the land of the dead (World of Darkness). According to Shinto mythology as related in '' Kojiki'', this is where the dead go in the afterlife. Once one has eaten at the hearth of Yomi it is (mostly) impossible to retur ...

(Hell, land of the dead) was located within the province, and was sealed by the god Izanagi by placing a large boulder over the entrance.

Historical districts

* Shimane Prefecture ** 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 (仁多郡) ** Nogi District (能義郡) - dissolved ** Ohara District (大原郡) - dissolved ** Ou District (意宇郡) - merged with Aika and Shimane Districts to become Yatsuka District on April 1, 1896 ** Shimane District (島根郡) - merged with Aika and Ou Districts to become Yatsuka Districton April 1, 1896 ** Tatenui District (楯縫郡) - merged with Izumo and Kando Districts to become Hikawa District on April 1, 1896

History

Historical districts

See also

Notes

References

External links