The short answer
Fushimi Inari Taisha is the head shrine of Inari, the Shinto kami of rice and agriculture, whom merchants also worship as a patron of business. It stands at the foot of Inariyama, a holy mountain 233 metres high on the south-eastern edge of Kyoto, and paths lined with torii gates climb from the main shrine over the mountain’s three peaks. The shrine’s own history dates the enshrining of the deity on the mountain to the first Day of the Horse in the second month of 711, by Irogu of the Hata clan, on the order of Empress Genmei; Wikipedia dates the main hall at the foot of the mountain to 1499. The shrine’s own pages say there are around 30,000 Inari shrines in Japan, with this one as their head shrine; Wikipedia gives a figure of as many as 32,000 branch shrines.
From Tally’s diary
Walked uphill through a tunnel of bright orange gates, one after another, set so close that the light came through in stripes. Moss on the stone lanterns, cedar and bamboo on the slopes, stone foxes everywhere with something held in their mouths. Somewhere above me people were clapping, then bowing, then quiet. I walked more softly after that, and a good deal higher than I had planned.
Why it's worth knowing
The gates are the offering. The shrine’s own account says that by the start of the Edo period (1603–1868) torii had become a common offering, given to express a wish for, or thanks for, the “passing” of a prayer to the deity, and that there are now about 10,000 of them, of every size, along the mountain paths. Kyoto City’s official guide counts more than 5,000. The two figures come from different counts, and this entry does not choose between them.
The givers are named. Japan-guide.com, a long-running independent guide, notes that each gate carries its donor’s name and the date of the gift on its back, and Japan’s national tourism organisation says companies and individuals from all over Japan dedicate them in the hope of prosperity in business. Japan-guide.com puts the cost of dedicating a gate at around 400,000 yen for a small one, rising to over a million yen for a large one; the shrine’s own price list could not be reached.
So the tunnel is also a ledger. Climbing, you see the vermilion fronts. Coming down, you see who gave them, and when.
The field notes
The thousand gates
The densest stretch is the Senbon Torii, the “thousand torii”, just behind the main shrine, where the gates stand so close together that they form tunnels; Wikipedia counts about 800 along the main path. Beyond them the paths go on past the Okusha Hohaisho, the inner shrine, and up the mountain through several thousand more.
November 2018A gate tunnel climbing through the forest on Mount Inari.
Photograph: Balon Greyjoy, CC0, cropped
Stones with names
Between the gates the mountain is crowded with otsuka, stone altars for private worship. The shrine says that many are engraved with names of the deity; Wikipedia counts them in the tens of thousands and describes them as personal forms of Inari set up by worshippers, each with its own name for the kami.
November 2018Mossy otsuka, stone altars for private worship, with miniature torii left among them.
Photograph: Balon Greyjoy, CC0
Foxes with keys
Stone foxes, kitsune, stand guard at the gates and altars as Inari’s messengers. Wikipedia’s account notes that many hold a key in their mouths, the key to the rice granary.
2022A statue at one of the shrine's gates.
Photograph: Levi Meir Clancy via Unsplash, Unsplash licence
The Day of the Horse
The shrine’s history records that people in the Heian period (794–1185) believed a visit to Inariyama on the first Day of the Horse in February would bring good fortune, and the shrine still marks that day with its Hatsuuma festival. The largest crowds come at New Year: Wikipedia cites a police figure of 2.69 million worshippers over the first three days of 2006, the most at any shrine in western Japan.
Fortunes in the lanes
In the lanes leading up to the shrine, shops sell tsujiura senbei, crackers with a fortune folded inside, a sweet that Wikipedia dates at least to the nineteenth century and that some believe, it reports, to be the origin of the American fortune cookie.
- Bow at the first gate, keep your voice low, and leave the altars to the people who came to use them.
- Go early, and keep climbing after you think you have seen it all. The gates keep going, and so should you, a little.
- Eat and drink at the resting places, not on the path. The foxes are watching.
- Turn round on the way down and read the backs of the gates.
- Read every name on every gate. (Could read none of them. ‘Learn to read these’ has gone in above this item, which is how lists grow.)
A relic from Fushimi Inari Taisha
Relic, entry 114Inscribed: giver's name and dateOffered since Edo period, 1603–1868
A torii, seen from behind. Each vermilion gate on Inariyama is an offering, and carries on its back the name of the person or company that gave it and the date of the gift. Climbing, you see only the fronts, a tunnel of colour; coming down, the same gates show their inscriptions. Torii have been given to mark a prayer’s passing to the deity, whether asked for or answered.
Tally, in the marginWritten on the back, for the people coming down. I went all the way up seeing nothing but orange and came all the way down seeing nothing but names, and I think the mountain intended both.
Getting there
- 1
The train to Inari Station
The shrine stands beside Inari Station on the JR Nara Line, two stops from Kyoto Station, and about five minutes’ walk east of Fushimi-Inari Station on the Keihan Main Line.
- 2
The climb up Inariyama
The hike to the summit and back takes about two to three hours; many walkers turn back at the Yotsutsuji intersection, roughly halfway up and reached in 30 to 45 minutes.
- 3
Past the inner shrine
Most of the mountain’s gates are further up, past the inner shrine, and early morning is the time to go.
- ✓
September 2018Kyoto from Yotsutsuji, partway up Mount Inari.
Photograph: Christophe95, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped
Hours and entry. There is no admission charge. Japan-guide.com lists the shrine as always open, with no closing days, and Wikipedia describes the approach and the main hall as lit all night. The hike to the summit and back takes about two to three hours; many walkers turn back at the Yotsutsuji intersection, roughly halfway up and reached in 30 to 45 minutes.
A working shrine. Fushimi Inari is a place of worship first. The shrine asks visitors not to eat or drink except in its marked rest areas, and not while walking or standing, and not to leave rubbish. People come to pray at the altars along the paths; give them room.
When to go. Go early in the morning, and keep climbing past the inner shrine: most of the mountain’s gates are further up. Expect the largest crowds at New Year and on the first Day of the Horse in February.
Safety. The State Department has Japan at Level 1, exercise normal precautions, its lowest level.
Mark this place
The passport stamp for this place.
Common questions
How many torii gates are at Fushimi Inari Taisha?
Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto says there are about 10,000 torii gates of all sizes along the paths of its mountain, Inariyama; Kyoto City’s official guide counts more than 5,000. About 800 stand along the main path in the Senbon Torii, the “thousand torii”, where they form tunnels behind the main shrine.
Who donates the torii gates at Fushimi Inari?
Worshippers, both individuals and companies, have given the torii gates at Fushimi Inari Taisha since the Edo period, according to the shrine, to ask for a prayer to be answered or to give thanks for one that was. Japan-guide.com notes that each gate carries the donor’s name and the date of the gift on its back.
How long does it take to walk up Fushimi Inari?
The hike from Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto to the summit of Inariyama, the 233-metre holy mountain behind the shrine, and back takes about two to three hours, by Japan-guide.com’s account. The Yotsutsuji intersection, roughly halfway up, has views over Kyoto, and the gates continue all the way to the top.
Is Fushimi Inari Taisha free to visit?
Yes. Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto charges no admission. Japan-guide.com lists it as always open, with no closing days, and Wikipedia describes the approach and main hall as lit all night.
Who is Inari?
Inari is the Shinto kami of rice and agriculture, also worshipped by merchants as a patron of business, and Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto is the head shrine of the thousands of Inari shrines across Japan. Stone foxes, kitsune, serve as Inari’s messengers; many at Fushimi Inari hold a key to the rice granary in their mouths.
When was Fushimi Inari Taisha founded?
Fushimi Inari Taisha dates itself to 711, when, by its own history, Irogu of the Hata clan enshrined the deity on Inariyama on the first Day of the Horse in the second month, by order of Empress Genmei. Wikipedia dates the main hall at the foot of the mountain to 1499.
How do you get to Fushimi Inari from Kyoto Station?
Take the JR Nara Line two stops from Kyoto Station to Inari Station, which stands beside the entrance of Fushimi Inari Taisha, according to the shrine’s access page. The shrine is also about five minutes’ walk east of Fushimi-Inari Station on the Keihan Main Line.
What should visitors know before visiting Fushimi Inari Taisha?
Fushimi Inari Taisha is a working Shinto shrine, and people come to pray at its altars along the mountain paths. The shrine asks visitors not to eat or drink except in marked rest areas, including while walking or standing, and not to leave rubbish. Entry is free, and the walk to the summit and back takes about two to three hours, by Japan-guide.com’s account.
Photographs on this page
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Photograph: Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped
Photograph: Balon Greyjoy, CC0, cropped
Photograph: Levi Meir Clancy via Unsplash, Unsplash licence
Photograph: Balon Greyjoy, CC0
Photograph: Christophe95, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped
