Susa Jinja Sengu

Susa Jinja (Susa Omiya) was dedicated to Susanoo-no-Mikoto as the main deity, as well as Inadahime-no-Mikoto as his wife, Ashinazuchi-no-Mikoto and Tenazuchi-no-Mikoto as her parents, and also has its own name in “Izumo no Kuni Fudoki”, or the ancient local history book and “Engishiki Jinmyoucho”, or the ancient government authorized shrine list.

According to “Izumo no Kuni Fudoki”, Susanoo-no-Mikoto said, “This country is a small country, but it is a good place, so I will leave my name on this land, not on any trees or stones,” and he placed his spirit in this mausoleum. It has such a profound and unprecedented history that this shrine can be said to be the headquarters of all shrines Susanoo-no-Mikoto is enshrined. Therefore, since ancient times, it had been deeply revered not only by the imperial court and military commanders, but also by the general public, and was listed in “Engishiki Jinmyocho”. In the Matsudaira Matsue domain in Edo era, this shrine was worshiped as the exclusive shrine dedicated for the protection of each local district, and in 1899, it was listed as one of “Kokuhei-shosha”, or the government supported shrines, and it has remained as “Beppyo Jinja”, or the major shrine to this day after the World War two.

It had been told that “Taisha-zukuri” (construction style designed for temple ordinances) main hall measured approximately 7 meters in all sides in the year around 1320 (according to the document in the shrine's collection), but the current one is about 4 meters in all sides and 12 meters high rebuilt by Haruhisa Amago, the feudal warlord in this area, in the year of 1554, then was registered as a cultural property designated by Shimane Prefecture in March, 1966. For over 460 years since Amago’s reconstruction, repairs have been carried out approximately once every 30 years. However, since last “Sengu”, or the major repair work and transfer of gods conducted in 1997, the roof has deteriorated to such an extent that we have received opinions from the various cultural properties departments of Shimane Prefecture and Izumo City that it is time for renovation.

When we realize that preserving tradition and culture and ensuring that each and every citizen has a deep sense of faith is an important issue for the Japanese people today, we wish to complete “Sengu”, which is our spiritual stronghold, on the other hand, it is quite difficult for only the small number of shrine parishioners to bear this financial burden, so we humbly ask for your support.

Although the world is currently in a very tough economic situation, we would like to ask all of you who have shown respect for Susa Jinja to consider this situation wisely and support this purpose, and to repay the thousand years of kindness we all have been receiving.

From Susanoo-no-Mikoto's soul-pacifying home, we pray that you will be bestowed with further divine virtues during this time of “Sengu”, and that you will prosper even more.