Day 7: Kyoto Fushimi Inari Shinto Shrine, Senbon Thousands of Torii Gates

We are planning on visiting with our Companion Miki and her good friend Yuko the Fushimi Inari shrine and Thousand Shito Gates & then a traditional Japanese Lunch (so excited).

This shrine is dedicated to the god of rice. It was a hot day, so a hat and umbrella are vital.

En Route Photos

Japanese McDonald's - Enjoyed Iced Coffee with REAL cream and gust gum sweet syrup (not the American injector of fake syrups).

Local Rail Transport fashion

Teenagers are teenagers, on Facebook!

Shinto Shrine walking the main gates.

Smaller gates- always organized in Japan. Walk in on the left, out on the right.

A spot to buy wishing plates to leave with your prayers.

This stone wishing spot. Leave your donation, make a wish/prayer. If you lift the stone, and it's heavier then you thought, your wish will come true. If its lighter then you thought, your wish won't come true.

Walking out with our JEEP friends

Two ladies in kimonos entering the shrine.

Our taxi driver was very enthusiastic to share postcards of all of Japan's most famous festivals. He assumes, as most Japanese do, that we don't have any previous knowledge of their country, culture or festivities. We were gracious listening to his information. 

From Japan Guide about the Shinto Temple Visit

Fushimi Inari Shrine (伏見稲荷大社, Fushimi Inari Taisha) is an important Shinto shrine in southern Kyoto. It is famous for its thousands of vermilion torii gates, which straddle a network of trails behind its main buildings. The trails lead into the wooded forest of the sacred Mount Inari, which stands at 233 meters and belongs to the shrine grounds.

Fushimi Inari is the most important of several thousands of shrines dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice. Foxes are thought to be Inari's messengers, resulting in many fox statues across the shrine grounds. Fushimi Inari Shrine has ancient origins, predating the capital's move to Kyoto in 794.

A giant torii gate in front of the Romon Gate at the shrine's entrance. While the primary reason most foreign visitors come to Fushimi Inari Shrine is to explore the mountain trails, the shrine buildings themselves are also attractive and worth a visit. At the shrine's entrance stands the Romon Gate, which was donated in 1589 by the famous leader Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Behind stands the shrine's main building (Honden) and various auxiliary buildings.

At the very back of the shrine's main grounds is the entrance to the torii gate covered hiking trail, which starts with two dense, parallel rows of gates called Senbon Torii ("thousands of torii gates"). The torii gates along the entire trail are donations by individuals and companies, and you will find the donator's name and the date of the donation inscribed on the back of each gate. The cost starts around 400,000 yen for a small sized gate and increases to over one million yen for a large gate.

Happy travels