Yomotsu Hirasaka

Yomotsu Hirasaka (often translated as Slope to the Underworld) is regarded in Japanese mythology as the boundary between the present world of the living and Yomi (the land of the dead). Ancient texts record it under different names: in the Kojiki it is called Yomotsu Hirasaka, in the Nihon Shoki it appears as Yomotsu Hirazaka or Izumozu Hirazaka, and in the Izumo Fudoki it is written as Yomi no Saka. All refer to the same concept.

In mythology, it is the key setting in the story of Izanagi and Izanami, symbolizing the dividing line between life and death.

According to the Kojiki, the site is located at Ifuya Slope in the land of Izumo, which is generally identified with present-day Iya, Higashi-Izumo, Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture. In 1940, a stone monument was erected here, along with a large boulder known as the Chibiki Rock, believed to be the rock Izanagi used to block the path to Yomi. Nearby, Iya Shrine, which enshrines the goddess Izanami, further emphasizes the site’s strong mythological connection. This location was also used in the 2010 Japanese film Matataki, in which the heroine visits her deceased lover.

Another local tradition, recorded in the Unyōshi (compiled in 1717), associates Makairizaka in Iwasaka, Matsue City with Izanagi. It is said that he threw peaches at the Thunder God there, a tale that is also tied to the Yomi myth and has become part of the region’s cultural heritage.