Fushimi Inari (伏見稲荷) is a Shinto shrine in Kyoto, and it is famous for one thing above all. Thousands of vermilion torii gates stand so close together that they form a long, glowing tunnel. The tunnel winds up the wooded slope of Mount Inari behind the main shrine.
A shrine built from thousands of gifts
Fushimi Inari is the head shrine of about thirty thousand Inari shrines across Japan. It has stood here since 711, before Kyoto even became the capital. Its god is Inari, the god of rice, business and prosperity. The famous tunnel of gates is not a single building project. Each torii is a gift from a person or a company in thanks for good fortune. The donor's name and the date appear in black ink on the back of the gate. People have kept adding new gates for centuries, one after another. Over time, the path became the dense corridor that visitors walk through today.
Foxes, rice, and a mountain full of shrines
Stone foxes guard Inari shrines all over Japan. The fox is not the god itself but Inari's messenger. At Fushimi Inari, foxes appear again and again along the path, often with a key or a jewel in their mouths. A full walk to the top of Mount Inari and back takes a couple of hours. The trail passes small shrines, teahouses and quiet side paths. Most visitors, though, turn back at the first big viewpoint. Unlike many of Kyoto's temples, Fushimi Inari never closes and charges no entry fee. Anyone can come at any hour of the day or night.
Words & idioms to take away
Idioms & proverbs to carry away
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千本鳥居 (senbon torii): "a thousand torii gates," the corridor of vermilion gates that made the shrine famous around the world.
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狐 (kitsune): the fox. Inari shrines honour it as the messenger that carries prayers to the god, not as a god in its own right.