Klaus ANTONI * Izumo as the ‘Other Japan’: Construction vs. Reality SHINKOKU is the sacred name of Japan – Shinkoku, ‘The Country of the Gods’; and of all Shinkoku the most holy ground is the land of Izumo. (Lafcadio Hearn) 1 … the case of Izumo reminds us that there were other chiefly hierarchies across the archipelago that continued to display distinct signs of autonomy. (Piggott 1997: 54) 1. Introduction Since the exoticizing romantic reports of Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904), who lived in Japan towards the end of 19th century and who shaped with his books – until today – the western image of Japan, the region of Izumo is regarded as a perfect example of the “other,” in the sense of a true, authentic, “actual” Japan in contrast to modern times. Hearn’s enthusiasm for this ideal went even so far that he accepted Japanese citizenship after his wedding with Koizumi Setsu (1891) in Matsue !", and made the poetic name ( makurakotoba #$) of Izumo %& – in memory of the time he spent there – his own 2 : Yakumo ’&, the place where the “eight (= many) clouds” ascend. This expression also refers directly to the religion of Izumo, to the Great shrine (Izumo Taisha), because it is there – as the legend says – where those “eight clouds ascend” ( yakumo tatsu ’&()). 3 But with Hearn’s romantic transfiguration of Izumo we do not enter the area of objective cultural and religious history of this region, but rather the complex realm of ideological identity discourses in modern Japan, which were to a great * Professor, Tübingen University, Japanese Studies. 1. This sentence is the beginning of Hearn’s essay “Kitzuki *+*: The most ancient shrine of Japan,” being included in Hearn’s first work about Japan, Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan (Hearn 1997: 172-210, quotation p. 172). 2. Hearn was informed of his naturalization in February 1896 in an official letter by the Japanese government; he signed this letter with his new name Koizumi Yakumo for the first time. Cf. Hori 2002. 3. Cf. Izumo-fudoki , NKBT 2: 94/95 and 98/99, cf. p. 95, annotation 19. Japanese Religions Vol. 30 (1 & 2): 1-20