is the head

shrine A shrine ( "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred space">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...: ''escri ...

of the ''

kami are the Deity, deities, Divinity, divinities, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forc ...

'' Inari, located in Fushimi-ku,

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

Kyoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Kyoto Prefecture has a population of 2,561,358 () and has a geographic area of . Kyoto Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the northeast, Shiga Prefecture ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. 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 A is a traditional culture of Japan, Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred, and a spot where kami are welcomed and thought to ...

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 The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

. In 965,

Emperor Murakami The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother/grandmother ( empress dowager/ grand empress dowager), or a woman who rul ...

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 , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...

. The shrine draws several million worshipers over the

Japanese New Year The is an annual festival that takes place in Japan. Since 1873, the official Japanese New Year has been celebrated according to the Gregorian calendar, on January 1 of each year, . Prior to 1872, traditional events of the Japanese New Year wer ...

, 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 , born posthumously called , was a Japanese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and poet who founded the Vajrayana, esoteric Shingon Buddhism, Shingon school of Buddhism. He travelled to China, where he studied Tangmi (Chinese Vajrayana Buddhism) und ...

. The main shrine structure was built in 1499.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric ''et al.'' (1998)
''Japan encyclopedia,'' p. 224.
/ref> 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

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 ''

'' gates.

Access and environs

The shrine is just outside

Inari Station is a railway station on the Nara Line in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). The station number is JR-D03. It is the closest station to Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine. Layout The station has two side platfo ...

on the

Nara Line The is a commuter rail line in the Osaka–Kobe–Kyoto metropolitan area, operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West). Its official termini are Kizu Station in Kizugawa and Kyōto Station in Kyoto, within Kyoto Prefecture; however ...

of the

West Japan Railway Company , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, ...

(JR), a five-minute ride from

Kyoto Station Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

. It is a short walk from

Fushimi-Inari Station is a railway station located in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan, on the Keihan Electric Railway Keihan Main Line. Layout *This station has 2 side platforms with a track each. Surroundings * Fushimi Inari-taisha * Inari Station ...

on the Main Line of the

Keihan Electric Railway The , known colloquially as the , , or simply , is a major Japanese private railway operator in Osaka, Kyoto, and Shiga Prefectures. The transit network includes seven lines; four main lines with heavy rolling stock, two interurban lines, and a ...

.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 A fortune cookie is a crisp and sugary cookie wafer made from flour, sugar, vanilla, and sesame seed oil with a piece of paper inside, a "fortune", an aphorism, or a vague prophecy. The message inside may also include a Chinese language, Chines ...

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 ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. Retrieved on January 16, 2008.

In popular culture

*''

Memoirs of a Geisha ''Memoirs of a Geisha'' is a historical fiction novel by American author Arthur Golden, published in 1997. The novel, told in first person perspective, tells the story of Nitta Sayuri and the many trials she faces on the path to becoming and w ...

'' (2005) *''

Hello World Hello World may refer to: * "Hello, World!" program, a computer program that outputs or displays the message "Hello, World!" Music * "Hello World!" (composition), song by the Iamus computer * "Hello World" (Tremeloes song), 1969 * "Hello World" ...

'' (2019) *'' Aria the Natural ep. 5'' (2006) *''

Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha , also known as for short, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Morohe Yoshida, which were serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's '' Young Ace'' magazine from August 2010 to May 2015. An anime television adaptation by Production I ...

'' (2010) *''

Rurouni Kenshin is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki. The story begins in 1878, the 11th year of the Meiji era in Japan, and follows a former assassin of the Bakumatsu, known as Hitokiri Battosai. After his work against ...

'', site of Makoto Shishio's base *''

Kamen Rider Fourze is a Japanese tokusatsu drama in Toei Company's Kamen Rider Series, being the thirteenth series in the Heisei period run and the twenty-second overall. It began airing on September 4, 2011, the week following the conclusion of ''Kamen Rider OOO'' ...

ep. 33'' (2012) *''

Samsara (2011 film) ''Samsara'' is a 2011 American non-narrative documentary film of international imagery directed by Ron Fricke and produced by Mark Magidson, who also collaborated on ''Baraka'' (1992), a film of a similar vein, and ''Chronos'' (1985). Complete ...

'' (2011) *''

The Quintessential Quintuplets is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Negi Haruba. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from August 2017 to February 2020, with its chapters collected into fourteen volumes. The series follows th ...

'' (2017) *''High School Inari Tamamo-chan'', where the main character a fox spirit came from along with her siblings. A part of the

Noh is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. It is Japan's oldest major theater art that is still regularly performed today. Noh is often based on tales from traditional literature featuri ...

play '' Kokaji'' takes place in ''Fushimi Inari-taisha''. The shrine inspired

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...

game designer,

Shigeru Miyamoto is a Japanese video game designer, video game producer, producer and Creative director#Video games, game director at Nintendo, where he has served as one of its representative directors as an executive since 2002. Widely regarded as one o ...

, to create the series

Star Fox ''Star Fox'' is a rail shooter, space flight simulator, and third person action-adventure video game series created by Shigeru Miyamoto and developed and published by Nintendo. The games follow the Star Fox combat team of anthropomorphic a ...

. In the series, players control

Fox McCloud is a fictional character and the chief protagonist of Nintendo's ''Star Fox'' series. He is an anthropomorphic red fox created by Shigeru Miyamoto and designed by Takaya Imamura. He was introduced as the sole playable character in the original ...

and fly starfighters through colorful rings in

aerial combat Aerial warfare is the use of military aircraft and other flying machines in warfare. Aerial warfare includes bombers attacking enemy installations or a concentration of enemy troops or strategic targets; fighter aircraft battling for contro ...

. 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 ''

'' 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 The , in popular Japanese tradition, are foxes or fox spirits that possess supernatural abilities such as shapeshifting, and capable of bewitching people. General overview , though literally a 'fox', becomes in folklore a ' fox spirit', o ...

''), 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.

References

Bibliography

* Breen, John and

Mark Teeuwen Mark J. Teeuwen (Marcus Jacobus Teeuwen, born 9 February 1966, Eindhoven) is a Dutch academic and Japanologist. He is an expert in Japanese religious practices, and he is a professor at the University of Oslo.University of Oslo faculty CV/ref> In a ...

. (2000)
''Shinto in History: Ways of the Kami.''
Honolulu:

University of Hawaii Press A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. * 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 Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

. * 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 * {{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