How Do You Get to Izumo and Izumo Taisha by Air, Rail and Bus?

Published 2026-10-04 · Sources checked 2026-10-04 · Treasure Hunting Co., Ltd.

This guide is for visitors who want to reach Izumo, in Shimane Prefecture, and then get from the station to Izumo Taisha Grand Shrine. It sums up the access page of the official Izumo tourism site, the Shimane prefectural travel guide and the site's question-and-answer page. Izumo is a Sea of Japan city, and it is not on a Shinkansen line, so most trips need a change of train or a flight.

All pages were read on 2026-10-04. Timetables, fares and discount tickets change, so check the operator's page before you travel.

Where Izumo is

The tourism site explains that Shimane Prefecture is in the Chugoku Region, north of Hiroshima and facing the Sea of Japan. It says the drive from Hiroshima City takes about three hours. Matsue, known for its castle, lies to the east. The Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine, a World Heritage area, lies to the west. Unnan, known for tatara iron making, lies to the south.

By air

The access page lists flights to Izumo Enmusubi Airport. The flight times and daily numbers it gives are:

• Tokyo (Narita): 5 flights a day, a 90-minute flight.
• Osaka (Itami): 6 flights a day, 65 minutes.
• Nagoya (Komaki): 2 flights a day, 60 minutes.
• Fukuoka: 1 flight a day, 60 minutes.
• Oki: 1 flight a day, 35 minutes.

The same page also lists Yonago Kitaro Airport in the next prefecture, with 6 flights a day from Tokyo at 75 minutes. The Shimane prefectural guide adds that international flights from Seoul and Taipei use Yonago. From JR Yonago Airport Station and Yonago Station it gives about 1 hour 30 minutes by limited express to JR Izumoshi Station.

By train

The access page gives these rail times to Izumoshi Station, the city's main station:

• From Tokyo Station: about 6 hours 30 minutes by Shinkansen to Okayama and then the Yakumo limited express.
• From Tokyo Station by night train: the Sunrise Izumo, about 12 hours.
• From Osaka Station: about 4 hours by Shinkansen to Okayama and the Yakumo.
• From Hakata Station: about 4 hours 30 minutes by Shinkansen with a change at Shin-Yamaguchi, then the Super Oki express.

The tourism site says the Yakumo from Okayama takes a little over three hours. It describes the Sunrise Izumo as a sleeper train with showers, lounge seating and several kinds of beds, including private rooms. On its question-and-answer page it says tickets can only be bought at JR Midori no Madoguchi ticket offices, no more than one month ahead.

The site states that with a JR Rail Pass you can use most JR trains, and the access page says a Tokyo to Izumo journey is worth 21,710 yen of tickets covered by the pass. It also warns that highway buses are not covered, apart from limited JR buses between Hiroshima and Izumo, so you should check that a bus is a JR bus and not an Ichibata bus.

By highway bus and car

The access page lists long-distance bus times to Izumo: 12 hours 30 minutes from Tokyo, 9 hours 50 minutes from Nagoya, and 5 hours 50 minutes from Kyoto (7 hours by night bus). The question-and-answer page says the prefecture subsidized a Hiroshima to Izumo bus ticket of 1,000 yen each way for foreign visitors, and a special Osaka bus ticket of 2,000 yen each way. However, the Shimane prefectural guide now carries a notice that the discount bus tickets between Hiroshima and Shimane are no longer available. These two official pages disagree, so assume the discount has ended unless a current page says otherwise.

For drivers, the site gives the expressway routes in outline: from the Kansai area via Yonago and the San'in Expressway to Hikawa IC or Izumo IC; from Kagawa via Okayama and Yonago; and from Kyushu through the Chugoku region and Matsue. The prefectural guide says that the drive from Sanin Expressway Izumo IC to Izumo Taisha takes about 15 minutes, and from Hikawa IC about 30 minutes.

From Izumoshi Station to Izumo Taisha

The prefectural guide gives two public transport routes to the shrine. One is the Ichibata Electric Railroad to Izumotaisha-Mae Station, then about a 10-minute walk. The other is the Ichibata Bus from JR Izumoshi Station, bound for Izumo Taisha or for Hinomisaki. Get off at the Izumo Taisha stop and walk about one minute.

The tourism site has a printable PDF timetable for the bus and train services between the station and the shrine, and says taxis are available if you are in a hurry. To go on to the Izumo Hinomisaki Lighthouse, the prefectural guide gives about 45 minutes by the Ichibata bus bound for Izumo Taisha and Hinomisaki, getting off at the Hinomisaki Lighthouse stop.

Bicycles on trains

The question-and-answer page says bicycles can be taken only onto Ichibata Railway trains, not JR trains, for an extra 350 yen on top of the ticket.

What we could not verify, and therefore left out

• Current fares for the Yakumo, Super Oki and bus routes, which the pages do not give.
• Whether the Sunrise Izumo is running on the day you plan to travel.
• Today's Ichibata bus and train times. Use the PDF timetable on the tourism site.

Related guides

• What is Izumo Taisha, and what else is there to see in Izumo?
• What should you know before you go to Izumo? Luggage, guides, cash and Wi-Fi

Sources

All URLs retrieved 2026-10-04.

1. Access (Visit Izumo, Izumo Tourism Association) — (flights, rail times, bus times, car routes)
2. JR Rail Pass Can Help You Get to Izumo (Visit Izumo) — (Yakumo, Sunrise Izumo)
3. Q & A (Visit Izumo) — (passes, discount buses, bicycles on trains)
4. Izumo Oyashiro Shrine (Shimane Prefecture travel guide) — (routes to the shrine)
5. Izumo Hinomisaki Lighthouse (Shimane Prefecture travel guide) — (bus to Hinomisaki)
6. From Hiroshima (Shimane Prefecture travel guide) — (Yonago Airport connections)
7. Shimane Japan Official Travel and Tourism Guide — (notice that discount buses ended)