Fushimi Inari-taisha

Fushimi Inari Taisha 伏見稲荷大社
Torii leading to the inner shrine
Information
Type	Inari Shrine
Dedicated to	Ukanomitama
Founded	711
Address	Fushimi-ku, Kyoto
Phone	+81-75-641-7331
Website	伏見稲荷大社 (in Japanese) Homepage
Glossary of Shinto

Fushimi Inari Taisha (伏見稲荷大社) is the head shrine of Inari, located in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan. The shrine sits at the base of a mountain also named Inari which is 233 metres above sea-level, and includes trails up the mountain to many smaller shrines.

Since in early Japan Inari was seen as the patron of business, each of the Torii is donated by a Japanese business. First and foremost though, Inari is the god of rice.

Merchants and manufacturers worship Inari for wealth. Donated torii lining footpaths are part of the scenic view.

This popular shrine is said to have as many as 32,000 sub-shrines (bunsha (分社)) throughout Japan.

History

Haiden in front of honden

"Tori at the foot of the mountain"

The shrine became the object of Imperial patronage during the early Heian period. 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 Kanpei-taisha (官幣大社), meaning that it stood in the first rank of government supported shrines.

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 main gate (楼門, rōmon, "tower gate") and the main shrine (御本殿, go-honden). Behind them, in the middle of the mountain, the inner shrine (奥宮, okumiya) is reachable by a path lined with thousands of torii. To the top of the mountain are tens of thousands of mounds (塚, tsuka) for private worship.

Fox

Fox holding a key in its mouth, at the main gate of the Fushimi Inari shrine

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

Unlike most Shinto shrines, Fushimi Inari Taisha, in keeping with typical Inari shrines, has an open view of the main idol object (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.

Access

The shrine is just outside the JR Nara Line Inari Station, 5 minutes ride from Kyoto Station. It is a short walk from Keihan Electric Railway Main Line Fushimi-Inari station.

Environs

In the approach to the shrine are a number of sweet shops selling tsujiura senbei (辻占煎餅), a form of fortune cookies dating at least to the 19th century, and which are believed by some to be the origin of the Chinese-American fortune cookie.

Modern pop culture

• Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)
• Aria the Natural ep. 5 (2006)
• Kamen Rider Fourze ep. 33 (2012)

See also

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

References

• Breen, John and Mark Teeuwen. (2000). Shinto in History: Ways of the Kami. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. 10-ISBN 0-824-82363-X; 13-ISBN 978-0-8248-2363-4
• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (1998). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 10-ISBN 0-674-01753-6; 13-ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5
• Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1962). Studies in Shinto and Shrines. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 399449
• ____________. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 194887

External links

• Official Site (ja) (NB: music plays automatically on the top web page)
• Photographs of Fushimi Inari-taisha
• English visitor information