A big highlight of our time in Kyoto was going to Fushimi Inari Taisha, the head shrine for over 40,000 Inari shrines in Japan. After spending so much time walking in flat cities, it was a good change to walk all the way around to the top of the hill! The lower precinct has such densely packed torii gates, it’s like entering a different world. We walked all the way to the summit of the hill, past graveyards, fox statues, and about 5,000 torii.
This wee fox statue holds a key to the granary. They’re the ‘messengers’
You can buy a minature torii to write your prayers on
Or, you could sponsor a big torii! Apparently if your prayer comes true, it’s customary to buy a torii – there must be lots of happy supplicants
There are two paths up to the main shrine
The gates go on forever!
Many people in Kyoto wear kimono. And many people in Japan also carry selfie-sticks
Nearer the top, there are far fewer people
There’s a lot of steps – good to get the heart rate up!
The ema are kitsune-shaped too
At the top of the hill the gates are less dense. A little bit less.
On the back of the gates, the names of the sponsors are written
