Fushimi Inari-taisha

is the head shrine of the ''kami'' Inari, located in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. The shrine sits at the base of a mountain, also named Inari, which is above sea level, and includes trails up the mountain to many smaller shrines which span and take approximately 2 hours to walk up. It is unclear whether the mountain's name, ''Inariyama'', or the shrine's name came first.Keller (2022): 2.

Inari was originally and remains primarily the ''kami'' of rice and agriculture, but merchants also worship Inari as the patron of business. Each of Fushimi Inari-taisha's roughly 10,000 torii were donated by a Japanese business, and approximately 800 of these are set in a row to form the Senbon Torii, creating the impression of a tunnel. The shrine is said to have ten thousand such gates in total that designate the entrance to the holy domain of ''kami'' and protect it against wicked forces.

Owing to the popularity of Inari's division and re-enshrinement, this shrine is said to have as many as 32,000 sub-shrines (分社 ''bunsha'') throughout Japan.

History

The shrine gained imperial patronage during the early Heian period. In 965, Emperor Murakami decreed that messengers carry written accounts of important events to the guardian ''kami'' of Japan. These ''heihaku'' were initially presented to 16 shrines, including the Inari Shrine.

From 1871 through 1946, Fushimi Inari-taisha was officially designated one of the , meaning that it stood in the first rank of government supported shrines.

Unlike most Shinto shrines, Fushimi Inari-taisha, in keeping with typical Inari shrines, has an open view of the main object of worship (a mirror).

A drawing in Kiyoshi Nozaki's ''Kitsune: Japan's Fox of Mystery, Romance and Humor'' in 1786 depicting the shrine says that its two-story entry gate was built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

The shrine draws several million worshipers over the Japanese New Year, 2.69 million for 3 days in 2006 reported by the police, the most in western Japan.

Structures

The earliest structures were built in 711 on the ''Inariyama'' hill in southwestern Kyoto, but the shrine was re-located in 816 on the request of the monk Kūkai. The main shrine structure was built in 1499.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric ''et al.'' (1998)
''Japan encyclopedia,'' p. 224.
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At the bottom of the hill are the and the . Behind them, in the middle of the mountain, the is reachable by a path lined with thousands of ''torii''. On the way to the top of the mountain are tens of thousands of rock altars ''(otsuka'' お塚) for private worship. These rock altars are personalised Inari that have been set up there by citizens. Most of them have individual names for Inari engraved on them.

Senbon Torii

The highlight of the shrine is the rows of torii gates, known as Senbon torii (千本鳥居), "thousand torii". The custom to donate a torii began spreading from the Edo period (1603–1868) to have a wish come true or in gratitude for a wish that came true, with successive gates being added up to the present day by donors out of gratitude. Along the main path there are around 800 '' torii'' gates.

Access and environs

The shrine is just outside Inari Station on the Nara Line of the West Japan Railway Company (JR), a five-minute ride from Kyoto Station. It is a short walk from Fushimi-Inari Station on the Main Line of the Keihan Electric Railway.Fushimi Inari Shrine
How to get there

The shrine is open 24 hours with the approach to the shrine and the itself illuminated all night. There is no entrance fee.

In the approach to the shrine are a number of sweet shops selling , a form of fortune cookie dating at least to the 19th century, and which are believed by some to be the origin of the American fortune cookie. Lee, Jennifer 8. (January 16, 2008).
Solving a Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery Inside a Cookie
''The New York Times''. Retrieved on January 16, 2008.

In popular culture

*'' Memoirs of a Geisha'' (2005)
*'' Hello World'' (2019)
*'' Aria the Natural ep. 5'' (2006)
*'' Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha'' (2010)
*'' Rurouni Kenshin'', site of Makoto Shishio's base
*'' Kamen Rider Fourze ep. 33'' (2012)
*'' Samsara (2011 film)'' (2011)
*'' The Quintessential Quintuplets'' (2017)
*''High School Inari Tamamo-chan'', where the main character a fox spirit came from along with her siblings.

A part of the Noh play '' Kokaji'' takes place in ''Fushimi Inari-taisha''.

The shrine inspired Nintendo game designer, Shigeru Miyamoto, to create the series Star Fox. In the series, players control Fox McCloud and fly starfighters through colorful rings in aerial combat. Miyamoto attributed these inspirations to the Fushimi Inari Shrine, which is within walking distance of the Nintendo Kyoto campus.

Gallery

File:Fushimi-Inari-Shrine-Senbon-Torii-2018-Luka-Peternel.jpg, View of the south-western wing of Senbon Torii path.
File:Fushimi-Inari-Shrine-Senbon-Torii-2016-Luka-Peternel.jpg, View of the north-eastern wing of Senbon Torii path.
File:Toris inari 3.jpg, A '' torii'' path across the mountain from the side
File:Hushimi-inari-taisha honden.jpg, A honden
File:Kyoto FushimiInari01.jpg, 楼門, rōmon, tower gate (main gate)
File:Fushimi-Inari-taisha 4.jpg
File:20100714 Kyoto Fushimi Inari 1655.jpg
File:Kyoto Schrein Fushimi-Inari-taisha 10.jpg
File:Fukakusa Kaidoguchicho, Fushimi Ward, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture 612-0805, Japan - panoramio (1).jpg

Fox

Foxes ('' kitsune''), regarded as the messengers, are often found in Inari shrines. One attribute is a key (for the rice granary) in their mouths.

File:Inari-kitsune fox in front of an Inari shrine with a key in its mouth.jpg, Fox holding a key in its mouth, at the main gate of the Fushimi Inari shrine
File:The image of the fox that example mouth the jewel.jpg, Fox holding a jewel in its mouth at the main gate of the Fushimi Inari shrine
File:Inari sculpture.jpg, Fox sculpture in Fushimi Inari-taisha shrine
File:Inari fountain.jpg, Fox fountain in Fushimi Inari-taisha shrine
File:Fox Fountain - Fushimi Inari 2010.jpg, Another view of the fox fountain
File:20181110 Fushimi Inari shrine 9.jpg, Fox altar in Fushimi Inari-taisha shrine
File:Fushimi Inari Taisha Kitsune.jpg, Kitsune statue in the Senbon Torii
File:Fushimi_Inari_shrines.jpg, Fox guardian at the Fushimi Inari shrine.

See also

* List of Shinto shrines
* Modern system of ranked Shinto shrines
* Twenty-Two Shrines

References

Bibliography

* Breen, John and Mark Teeuwen. (2000)
''Shinto in History: Ways of the Kami.''
Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
* Keller, Matthew Paul (2022): ''The Appeal of the Fox: The Cult of Inari and Premodern Japan.'' University of Southern California.
* Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (1998)
''Japan encyclopedia.''
Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
* Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1962).
''Studies in Shinto and Shrines.''
Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society
OCLC 399449
* Ponsonby-Fane, Richard (1959)
''The Imperial House of Japan.''
Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society
OCLC 194887
* Smyers, Karen A. (1997)
Inari pilgrimage: Following one’s path on the mountain
Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 24 (3–4), 427–452
* Smyers, Karen A. (1996): "My Own Inari": Personalization of the Deity in Inari Worship. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies. 23 (1-2): 85-116.
* Cali, Joseph, and John Dougill. Shinto shrines: a guide to the sacred sites of Japan's ancient religion. University of Hawaii Press, 2012.

External links

*
*
Fushimi Inari-taisha


on taleofgenji.org
Accessibility information
on Accessible Japan
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{{Authority control

Important Cultural Properties of Japan
Inari shrines
Shinto shrines in Kyoto
Fushimi-ku, Kyoto
Kanpei Taisha
Former Beppyo shrines
Myōjin Taisha
Twenty-Two Shrines
Taisha
Independent shrines
Kasuga-zukuri