Fushimi Inari-taisha — 伏見稲荷大社

Fushimi Inari-taisha is the head shrine of approximately 30,000 Inari shrines across Japan, and the single most visited shrine in the country. It sits at the base of Mount Inari in southern Kyoto, and its thousands of vermilion torii gates — donated by businesses and individuals over centuries — form corridors that wind four kilometres up the mountain through cedar forest. To walk through them is to pass through an accumulation of human desire: every gate is a prayer made permanent in lacquered wood. The earliest gates date to the Edo period, but the practice continues today — a new gate costs between 400,000 and one million yen depending on size, and the donor’s name is inscribed in black on the back.

Fushimi Inari was established in 711 CE by the Hata clan, immigrant settlers from the Korean peninsula who had grown wealthy through sericulture and sake brewing in the Kyoto basin. The shrine’s founding coincides with the Nara period’s expansion of rice cultivation, and Inari — originally an agricultural deity — became central to Japan’s economic transformation. By the Heian period, the shrine had gained imperial patronage, and in 827 CE it received the court rank of Senior Fourth Rank Lower Grade. The association with fox messengers emerged during the medieval period, when rice storage attracted actual foxes to shrine grounds, and their presence was reinterpreted as divine. The current main hall was rebuilt in 1499 after fire destroyed the previous structure.

Ukanomitama no Mikoto (宇迦之御魂大神) is the primary deity, a kami of rice and agriculture whose name means “spirit of food.” The shrine also enshrines four additional kami: Sadahiko no Mikoto, Omiyame no Mikoto, Tanaka no Mikoto, and Shi no Mikoto — together forming the collective Inari Okami. While Ukanomitama appears in the Kojiki as a child of Susanoo, the syncretic nature of Inari worship means the deity absorbed characteristics from Buddhist figures, particularly Dakiniten, during the medieval period. Fox statues serve as messengers rather than objects of worship themselves, always depicted holding symbolic items: keys to the rice granary, jewels representing the spirit of food, or scrolls of sacred knowledge.

The founding legend centers on Irogu no Hatanokimi, a Hata clan ancestor who in 711 CE used rice cakes for target practice — an act of shocking irreverence. When he shot an arrow at the cake, it transformed into a white bird that flew to the peak of Mount Inari and settled there. Immediately, the rice in Irogu’s fields withered and died. Realizing his transgression, he planted cryptomeria trees on the mountain and built a shrine to apologize to the kami of rice. The white bird became a crane in some tellings, and the word “Inari” itself is parsed as ine-nari (稲成り) — “rice growing.” This legend established the fundamental principle that Inari must be approached with proper respect, and that prosperity comes only through acknowledgment of the sacred within the mundane.

The main shrine complex at the base contains the Rōmon Gate, a vermilion two-story structure donated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1589 to celebrate his mother’s recovery from illness. Beyond it lies the main hall (honden), built in the distinctive Inari-zukuri style with five separate buildings connected under one roof system. The famous torii tunnels begin at the Senbon Torii — literally “thousand gates” though the actual number exceeds 10,000 — splitting into two parallel paths that converge at the Okusha Hohaisho, an inner worship hall one-third of the way up the mountain. From there, the mountain path continues through smaller sub-shrines (tsukasha) marked by stone fox guardians, candle altars, and offerings of sake and fried tofu, the latter being a favorite food of foxes in folklore. The summit sits at 233 meters and requires approximately two hours to reach from the base.

• Hatsuuma Taisai (First Horse Day of February) — The founding festival commemorating the day Inari descended to Mount Inari in 711 CE, drawing hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who receive blessed sake and special amulets
• Motomiya-sai (July 20-21) — The summer festival featuring thousands of lanterns lighting the mountain paths and special evening worship ceremonies
• Sangyō-sai (November) — A harvest thanksgiving festival where business owners bring offerings and pray for commercial prosperity
• Tōka-sai (New Year period) — Traditional fire-walking rituals performed by shrine priests to purify the coming year

Dawn on a weekday between January and March offers the torii corridors in relative solitude, with morning light filtering through the gates. By 9 AM the paths fill completely with tour groups. The mountain takes on particular atmosphere during light rain, when mist obscures the upper slopes and the vermilion gates appear to float in white void. Autumn provides ideal hiking weather, though crowds intensify during November’s foliage season. The mountain remains open and lit throughout the night for New Year’s first shrine visits, creating an otherworldly procession of thousands carrying lanterns up the dark paths.