Clear the Izumo Local Quiz and earn the Izumo Local title. Want to know Izumo even better, or already confident? The tougher courses are next.
The Izumo quiz maps Izumo Taisha and mythology, coast and lighthouse, Hirata commerce, soba and transport, not as disconnected attractions but as one local route. Names such as Izumo Taisha, Kaguraden, Yatsuashimon Gate, Soga Shrine appear alongside the ways people travel, worship, eat, and work. Begin with clues like the Izumo shrine enshrining Okuninushi-no-Okami; the myth-linked beach west of the shrine; the varied coastal landscape at the western tip of the Shimane Peninsula; then use examples and practice questions to move from nationwide basics to super-maniac details and test what you really remember.
Q1.Which shrine enshrines Okuninushi-no-Okami, god of nation-building and en-musubi, and is approached via Shinmon-dori street and the Ukabashi Grand Torii?
Izumo Taisha
Tatsumushi Shrine
Inochinushi Shrine
Gakuenji Temple
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Correct answerIzumo Taisha
Okuninushi-no-Okami is the resident deity of Izumo Taisha, credited both with building the nation in myth and with tying the bonds — en-musubi — between people. Visitors reach the sanctuary by way of Shinmon-dori street and the towering Ukabashi Grand Torii. Izumo is also tied to the legend that every deity in Japan gathers here each tenth lunar month — the one month elsewhere called "godless," but in Izumo alone called "the month the gods are present."
Q2.According to the Kojiki, which beach was the stage for the kuni-yuzuri (land-transfer) negotiation between Okuninushi and Amaterasu's envoy?
Udo
Inasa Beach
Fumishima's black-tailed gulls
Inume Coast
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Correct answerInasa Beach
Inasa Beach, just west of Izumo Taisha, is traditionally identified as the shore where Okuninushi met Amaterasu's messenger and agreed to cede the land — the kuni-yuzuri myth that anchors Izumo's whole mythological status.
Q3.Which headland forms the western tip of the Shimane Peninsula, its cliffs dropping straight into the Sea of Japan?
Fumishima's black-tailed gulls
Sagiura
Hinomisaki
Inume Coast
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Correct answerHinomisaki
Hinomisaki sits at the far western edge of the Shimane Peninsula. Its rugged, wave-cut cliffs are what eventually made a lighthouse here a practical necessity, not just scenery.
Q4.Which gate in front of Izumo Taisha's Honden takes its name from the eight pillars supporting it?
Harae-no-Yashiro
the Bronze Torii
Yatsuashi-mon Gate
the Pine Approach
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Correct answerYatsuashi-mon Gate
Yatsuashimon Gate takes its name from the eight pillars ("eight legs") that support its structure, and stands directly in front of the honden. It is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property, and ordinary worshippers can normally approach no further than this gate — a close view of the honden is reserved for limited special visits.
Q5.Said to guard the direction where the sun sets and paired in legend with Ise Jingu, which lower shrine of Hinomisaki Shrine is this?
Hinoshizumi-no-miya
Izumo Taisha
Kami-no-miya
Haiden
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Correct answerHinoshizumi-no-miya
Hinoshizumi-no-miya carries a legend that it guards the direction where the sun sets, forming a pair with Ise Jingu, which is said to guard the sun's own home. It is the lower shrine of Hinomisaki Shrine and enshrines Amaterasu Omikami. It sits lower on the grounds than the upper shrine, Kami-no-Miya, with the two structures facing one another.
