Fushimi Inari (伏見稲荷) is a Shinto shrine in Kyoto famous for one thing above all else: a path of thousands of vermilion torii gates, set so close together they form a long, glowing tunnel, winding up the wooded slope of Mount Inari behind the main shrine buildings.
A shrine built from thousands of gifts
Fushimi Inari sits at the head of some thirty thousand Inari shrines across Japan, and it has stood on this site since long before the Heian period, dedicated to Inari, the god of rice, business, and prosperity. The famous tunnel of gates isn't one single construction. Each torii was donated by an individual or a company grateful for good fortune, its price and the donor's name painted on the back in black ink, and the tradition of adding a new one has continued for centuries, gate after gate, until the path became the dense corridor visitors walk through today.
Foxes, rice, and a mountain full of shrines
Stone foxes stand guard at Inari shrines everywhere, since the fox is seen as the messenger of Inari rather than the god itself, and at Fushimi Inari they appear again and again along the path, often holding a key or a jewel in their mouths. The full walk to the summit of Mount Inari and back can take a couple of hours, passing smaller shrines, teahouses, and quiet side paths the whole way, though most visitors only walk as far as the first major viewpoint before turning back. Unlike many of Kyoto's temples, Fushimi Inari never closes and never charges admission, open to anyone at any hour, 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 famous corridor of vermilion gates the shrine is named for around the world.
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狐 (kitsune): the fox, honored at Inari shrines as the messenger that carries prayers to the god rather than as a god in its own right.