Mon Dec 8, 2008
I am staying in Kyoto again but in a place downtown adjacent to the train station so I can easily get to some of the surrounding sites. Today I visited the Shinto/Buddhist shrine of Inari-Fushimi outside of Kyoto. It is the main shrine of Inari the kami (or spirit) of rice, sake and fertility. This shrine is so popular that millions of people visit it over the course of a few days at New Years.
Today it was not that crowded. There is a huge torii at the base of the mountain in front of the main shrine and then long tunnels of vermillion toriiover the trails that run up and around the mountain. There are myriads of smaller shrines covering the side of the mountain. The mountain has thousand of torii on it. The trails are steep and the climb arduous. In some of the higher places you feel as if you are in the forests of the Pacific northwest with big cedar trees and deep gullies till you spot he occasional palm frond or stand of bamboo.
The foxes are the messengers and/or protectors of Inari.
These are living sacred places. Almost all the Japanese do pray at each shrine : toss coins in the hopper, clap twice, ring the gong, make a prayer request and clap again, and back away.
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