Autumn 2021. In our Grand Scheme of Travels, Danny and I had planned to be in Japan with Michel. Quod non. So let’s go back to March and April 2013, when my sister Florence, her husband Kenneth, my nephew Leo and my niece Isaline travelled to Tokyo, Hakone and Kyoto. The classic intro to Nippon and a golden opportunity. I grew up with anime such as ‘Dragon Ball‘ and ‘Saint Seiya‘ on television and Japan had been on my wish list since I was little. There’s a lot I don’t remember. But thanks to photos on Facebook, my guidebook and check-ins on Swarm (Foursquare), I can reconstruct parts of that trip. 

We started the second day in Kyoto with the world-famous Fushimi Inari Shrine. If you don’t know its name, you know its images. It’s most known for its thousands of vermilion torii gates, which form a network of trails behind its main buildings. The trails lead into the wooded forest of the sacred Mount Inari.

Fushimi Inari-taisha (伏見稲荷大社) is the head shrine of the kami Inari. The shrine sits at the base of a mountain also named Inari which is 233 metres (764 ft) above sea level, and includes trails up the mountain to many smaller shrines which span 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) and take approximately 2 hours to walk up.

Inari was originally and remains primarily the kami of rice and agriculture, but merchants and manufacturers also worship Inari as the patron of business. Each of Fushimi Inari-taisha’s roughly thousand torii was donated by a Japanese business.

The torii gates are famous, the bamboo forest is famous, but the buildings are also worth your attention. And look out for foxes. 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 object of worship (a mirror).

Sources: Wikipedia, Japan Guide

2013 Japan Family Trip

1. JAPAN 2013 | Solo in Tokyo.
2. JAPAN 2013 | Tokyo ft. Ueno Park and the Shibuya Crossing.
3. JAPAN 2013 | Tokyo ft. Sensō-ji, Hamarikyu Gardens and the Imperial Palace East Gardens.
4. JAPAN 2013 | Meiji Shrine and Harakuju in Tokyo.
5. JAPAN 2013 | Tokyo ft. Tsukiji Fish Market, Ginza, Zōjō-ji Temple, Tokyo Tower and traditional restaurant Jomon in Roppongi.
6. JAPAN 2013 | Tokyo – Hakone by train.
7. JAPAN 2013 | Hakone Yumoto – Lake Ashi – Owakudani.
8. JAPAN 2013 | Hakone Yumoto Onsen Tenseien.
9. JAPAN 2013 | Kyoto’s Philosopher’s Path and Anraku-ji Temple.
10. JAPAN 2013 | Kyoto’s Ginkaku-ji or Temple of the Silver Pavilion.