Hitachi Izumo Taisha

Hitachi Izumo Taisha in Kasama, Ibaraki, was founded in 1992 as a branch of Izumo Taisha in Shimane, with permission from the head priest Senge Takamasa. Its main hall is built in the taisha-zukuri style of the head shrine, and its shimenawa rope of 16 meters and six tons is among the largest in Japan after the head shrine's kagura hall. The grounds extend over about 40,000 tsubo on the hills of southwestern Kasama. The main deity is Okuninushi no Okami, recorded in Kojiki (712 CE) as the chief earthly deity in the kuniyuzuri narrative. Associated deities include Kotoshironushi and Takeminakata. The shrine is geographically and ritually linked with Kashima Jingu in Ibaraki and Suwa Taisha in Nagano, forming an eastern Izumo-line landscape. The October Kamiari-sai is celebrated in parallel with the head shrine. The shrine operates under the Izumo Taisha Kyo lineage rather than the Jinja Honcho system.