#fushimi inari

Now that I’m back home from Japan I’m going to start uploading some of my journey! It was such an amazing, nerve-wracking and eye opening experience I want to share some of it with you guys ❤️ This pic was outside the Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto and it was one of my fav places to visit.

June 6th - Fushimi Inari

Rows of Torii at Fushimi Inari 

      Today we went to what I think is the most iconic thing to see in Kyoto - Fushimi Inari, or the mountain of ten thousand gates. We had the option to leave at 7am or 9:30, and although I voted for 7 (otherwise its impossible to get the photos everyone wants), 9:30 got the majority. I started my morning at 7:30 to help clean up from Lord of the Rings night a few doors down, and then we headed over to the shrine. 

      From the moment we got off at the stop for the shrine I could tell it was going to be a good excursion. The station was decorated with foxes, and Inari sushi was offered at a small stall. Fun fact - Inari sushi is named because fried tofu is apparently a favorite food of foxes. We headed up to the shrine, which was super impressive. There were statues of foxes everywhere, and much of it was painted in the red-orange color meant to ward off evil spirits. We started up the trail to the summit, which began with huge torii one after the other and also a million people crammed in together. As we descended, though, the people grew less and less and I was able to get one picture without other tourists in the shot. 

     The ascent itself wasn’t nearly as bad as Mt. Takao in Tokyo. Everything was paved and had stairs, and the angle of elevation was much less steep, save one or two stretches. We met another group back down the mountain and headed home. Even though climbing wasn’t bad, it was still really hot today so I really needed a shower. It’s 3:30 now, and I have a few things I want to get done. I need to scope some stores to get my brother the things he wants, and tomorrow is Seth’s birthday so we’re all going to do something for him tonight.

      Professor Smith mentioned today that we should try to do as much as we can while we’re here, because we can watch a movie in America. I’m trying, but I feel a little bit in a rut. For one, we get out earlier in Kyoto, so we have more time on our hands and it feels a little like we live here. So it’s easy to fall into a pattern of normal life, staying in and reading and ordering pizza. 

Academic Reflection 

      The reading for today was about Inari, and the history surrounding the shrine and god/goddess. One thing I thought was really interesting was reading about how the shrine adapted after the separation of Buddhism and Shintoism by the Meiji government. Inari has been a diety of both religions for ages, so when Buddhism was forced out of the premises, people had to adapt. Buddhist believers set up rock altars higher up on the mountain despite the prohibition on them, and some of these still exist. While climbing, we passed one or two hidden in fields of tori or around curves on the path. It was cool to be able to see these and understand the history behind them.

     Another cool thing was just how different Inari is seen at different levels. It is even debated whether or not they are a man or a woman. Priests believe that Inari was not a fox, and used them simply as messengers, but it is a common belief of the average shrine goer that Inari is, in fact, a fox. It was fun walking through the throngs of people and knowing that they all came from different backgrounds and believed different things, but still were brought together in worship and to see the beauty of the shrine. 

Outside of Fushimi Inari Shrine

View of Kyoto from an outlook near the summit

This fountain is used to purify you before you enter a shrine. This was next to a small one on the way up, but it had these pretty flowers in it and I liked it a lot

Some paths along the way had these arrays of tiny stone torii with fox statues around them