IZUMO TAISHA-MAE STATION (TAISHAMACHI, SHIMANE PREF.)

Quasi-chapel sits in town heavy with myth

Photos by Yomiuri Shimbun Photographer Yasushi Wada

By Masayuki Murata

Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

The elegant Western-style Izumo Taisha-mae Station building in Taishamachi, Shimane Prefecture, blends uncannily with the scenery of its town.

Taishamachi is famous for Izumo Taisha grand shrine, which is dedicated to Okuninushi no Mikoto, the patron deity of wedlock and love.

It is not only the tilted roof — resembling the canopy of a wagon — that creates an exotic atmosphere. Once inside, the snow-white, domed ceiling and stained glass window is reminiscent of a church.

"Everybody was surprised at the station when it was completed," said Toshiko Suto, 80, who runs a souvenir shop nearby, going back in her mind to 75 years ago.

The reinforced concrete station building was built in 1930 for the opening of Ichibata Electric Railway Co.'s Taisha Line.

"The station stood out at that time because all the other buildings were made of wood. I remember I took part in a hanagasa (flower hat dance), which was held as part of a ceremony to mark the completion of the station," Suto said.

According to Hiroshi Kishi, 62, who works at Izumo Taisha-mae Station part time after retirement, there was a not so subtle reason for commissioning such a unique design in the early Showa era (1926-1989).

"I heard they were trying to compete with JR Taisha Station," Kishi said.

The JR station, built in 1924, boasted traditional Japanese-style architecture, which is more appropriate to a temple town housing Izumo Taisha, renowned as a shrine that grants worshippers a happy marriage.

Although the line serving the JR station is no longer running and the station was decommissioned in 1990, the building has been preserved as a national cultural property.

It still receives 20,000 visitors a year, and is often described as one of the country's outstanding stations, attracting much more attention than the active Izumo Taisha-mae Station.

The station was listed as a protected building in 1996, even though its architect is unknown.

This is not inappropriate for a building in a town strong with myths. After all, Izumo is the place where the Shinto gods and goddesses are said to come every year to meet.