Results of the Excavation of the Izumo Taisha Precinct Site, Taisha-cho, Shimane Prefecture

The Izumo Taisha shrine precinct site is located in Taisha-cho, Hikawa-gun, Shimane prefecture. Within the precinct of Izumo shrine, visited by many worshippers annually, a portion of a single pillar made of three Japanese cedar logs bound together was found in April 2000. A drawing which shows three logs tied together as a single pillar is in the possession of Izumo shrine, and the pillar found in the current excavation is in nearly perfect agreement with this document.<BR>The height of the Izumo shrine building has long been a topic in the shrine's architectural history. It is recorded in a Heian period document that the shrine was taller than the building housing the great Buddha of Nara (45 m). A tradition handed down at the shrine holds that the building was 48 m, possibly making it the tallest building in Japan at the time. It is also known from documentary sources that the building collapsed repeatedly because it was too tall, with records of six incidences of collapse surviving from the end of the Heian through the Kamakura periods.<BR>For the pillar recovered in the current excavation, a combination of documentary and archaeological evidence, and scientific radiocarbon dating show it is very likely part of the remains of the main shrine erected in 1248. This is possibly the last time the main shrine was erected as a high-rising structure.<BR>The Izumo Taisha shrine precinct site also contains multiple strata of artifacts and archaeological features which tell of the history of worship at Izumo shrine from the Early Kofun through the Early Modern periods.<BR>The investigation will continue in Fiscal Year 2001, and it is hoped that the colossal shrine building of Izumo Taisha will become known in greantar detail