is the head shrine of the kami Inari, located in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan. 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.

The shrine was formally founded in 711 CE by the Hata clan, an influential immigrant group from the Korean Peninsula. 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 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.

History

thumb|Front view of the [[haiden (Shinto)|haiden|left]]

The shrine's foundation is traditionally dated to 711 CE (the Wadō era), though its religious significance is deeply rooted in the migration of the Hata clan (秦氏, Hata-uji). The Hata were a prominent group of toraijin (immigrants from the Korean Peninsula) who settled in the Yamashiro Province during the Kofun period. Historical and genealogical records, such as the Shinsen Shōjiroku, suggest the clan migrated from the Korean kingdom of Silla or Paekche, bringing advanced continental technologies in irrigation, sericulture, and sake brewing to Japan.

According to the Yamashiro-no-kuni Fudoki, the shrine was established by Hata no Irogu (秦伊呂具). Legend states that Irogu, a wealthy landowner, shot an arrow at a mochi, which then transformed into a white bird and flew to the peak of Mount Inari; rice grew where the bird landed, leading Irogu to enshrine the deity there. The Hata clan's technical expertise in agriculture and their close ties to the Imperial Court allowed the Inari deity to transition from a private clan tutelary (ujigami) to a major national protector of the harvest and the state. In 965, Emperor Murakami 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.

The shrine draws several million worshipers over the Japanese New Year, 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. The main shrine structure was built in 1499.

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 torii 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 torii gates.

Access and environs

thumb|160px|Walking up part of the torii path

The shrine is just outside Inari Station on the Nara Line of the West Japan Railway Company (JR), a five-minute ride from Kyoto Station. It is a short walk from Fushimi-Inari Station on the Main Line of the Keihan Electric Railway.

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 dating at least to the 19th century, and which are believed by some to be the origin of the American fortune cookie.

  • High School Inari Tamamo-chan, where the main character a fox spirit came from along with her siblings.
  • A part of the Noh play Kokaji takes place in Fushimi Inari-taisha.
  • The shrine inspired Nintendo game designer, Shigeru Miyamoto, to create the series Star Fox. In the series, players control Fox McCloud and fly starfighters through colorful rings in aerial combat. Miyamoto attributed these inspirations to the Fushimi Inari Shrine, which is within walking distance of the Nintendo Kyoto campus.

<gallery widths=200 heights=200>

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 torii 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

</gallery>

Fox

Foxes (kitsune), regarded as the messengers, are often found in Inari shrines. One attribute is a key (for the rice granary) in their mouths.

<gallery widths=200 heights=200>

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.

</gallery>

See also

  • List of Shinto shrines
  • Modern system of ranked Shinto shrines
  • Twenty-Two Shrines

References

Bibliography

  • Breen, John and Mark Teeuwen. (2000). Shinto in History: Ways of the Kami. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Fushimi Inari-taisha
  • Photographs of Fushimi Inari-taisha on taleofgenji.org
  • Accessibility information on Accessible Japan