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Exploring Kyoto: Fushimi Inari Shrine

Yes, I watched Memoirs of a Geisha when it was first came out. And yes, Fushimi Inari Shrine (or Fushimi Inari Taisha) went onto my bucket list as soon as I saw that scene where little Chiyo runs through the hundreds of orange/black gates in her Japanese clogs. How beautiful was that scene?! Come ON.

So if we were going to Japan for the first time, we are definitely seeing Kyoto and Fushimi Inari Shrine would definitely make it to my top 3 list.

One of the most famous Shinto shrines in Japan, Fushimi Inari Shrine was founded in AD 711 and dedicated to Inari, the god of rice, sake, commerce and business. There are sculptures of foxes (kitsune) everywhere as they were considered messengers of the gods. Some of the foxes will have a key in their mouths, representing the key to the rice granery they protected in ancient times.

But what it’s most well-known for is its thousands of vermilion torii gates – 32,000 to be exact! The spectacular torii gates stretch for four kilometres and lead up to the sacred Mt. Inari. The torii gates were paid for or donated by Japanese businesses or residents. In appreciation, their names are inscribed onto each torii.

Fun fact: each torii costs between 40,000-1,300,000 yen, depending on the size and location.

At the entrance, the torii gates are densely packed together – as are the throngs of tourists. There’s definitely some crowd-battling going on. If you want to take pictures without a horde of people doing the same exact thing, you’ll have to get away from everyone by walking up higher.

And as you get higher to the summit, the gaps between the torii gates gets wider too. The crowd of tourists also start to peter out past the half-way point. Which is to say you don’t have to do the entire pilgrimage circuit, but we wanted to meander through the hypnotic vermilion torii gates, and take in the beautiful views of Kyoto at the Yotsut-suji intersection.

There are sub-shrines, rest stops, little eateries, souvenir shops, and vending machines along the trail. And nekos – that is wild kitties!

They say to give yourself a couple hours to hike up the summit and back, but you could easily spend half a day here, as we did. It totally lived up to my expectations and I’m so happy to have finally seen it.