Fushimi Inari-taisha

Fushimi Inari Taisha
伏見稲荷大社
Torii leading to the outer shrine
Shown within Kyoto city
Fushimi Inari-taisha (Japan)
Basic information
Location Fushimi-ku, Kyoto
Geographic coordinates 34°58′2″N 135°46′22″E / 34.96722°N 135.77278°E / 34.96722; 135.77278
Affiliation Shinto
Deity Uka-no-Mitama-no-Ōkami, et al. as Inari Ōkami
Type Inari Shrine
Website inari.jp/en/
Date established 711
Glossary of Shinto

Fushimi Inari Taisha (伏見稲荷大社) is the head shrine of the god Inari, located in Fushimi Ward in Kyoto, Japan. 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.[1]

First and foremost, Inari is the god of rice, but merchants and manufacturers have traditionally worshiped Inari as the patron of business. Each of the torii at Fushimi Inari Taisha has been donated by a Japanese business.

This popular shrine is said to have as many as 32,000 sub-shrines (bunsha (分社)) throughout Japan.[2]

History

A torii path across the mountain (When the wish is fulfilled the torii that wrote the name was built)
Front view of the haiden
A torii path across the mountain from the side
honden
The main gate

The shrine became the object of imperial patronage during the early Heian period.[3] In 965, Emperor Murakami decreed that messengers carry written accounts of important events to the guardian kami of Japan. These heihaku were initially presented to 16 shrines, including the Inari Shrine.[4]

From 1871 through 1946, Fushimi Inari-taisha was officially designated one of the Kanpei-taisha (官幣大社), meaning that it stood in the first rank of government supported shrines.[5]

Structures

The earliest structures were built in 711 on the Inariyama hill in southwestern Kyoto, but the shrine was re-located in 816 on the request of the monk Kūkai. The main shrine structure was built in 1499.[6] At the bottom of the hill are the main gate (楼門, rōmon, "tower gate") and the main shrine (御本殿, go-honden). Behind them, in the middle of the mountain, the inner shrine (奥宮, okumiya) is reachable by a path lined with thousands of torii. To the top of the mountain are tens of thousands of mounds (塚, tsuka) for private worship.

Senbon torii

The highlight of the shrine is the rows of torii gates, known as Senbon torii. The custom to donate a torii started to spread since the Edo period (1603 – 1868) to get a wish to become true or to thank for a wish that became true. Along the main path there are around 10,000 torii gates.

Fox

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 idol object (a mirror).

A drawing in Kiyoshi Nozaki's Kitsune: Japan's Fox of Mystery, Romance and Humor in 1786 depicting the shrine says that its two-story entry gate was built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

The shrine draws several million worshipers over the Japanese New Year, 2.69 million for 3 days in 2006 reported by the police, the most in western Japan.

Access

The shrine is just outside the Inari Station on the Nara Line of the West Japan Railway Company (JR), a five-minute ride from Kyoto Station. It is a short walk from Fushimi-Inari Station on the Main Line of the Keihan Electric Railway.[7]

The shrine is open 24 hours with both the approach to the shrine and the Honden (本殿, main hall) itself illuminated all night. There is no entrance fee.

Environs

In the approach to the shrine are a number of sweet shops selling tsujiura senbei (辻占煎餅), a form of fortune cookie dating at least to the 19th century, and which are believed by some to be the origin of the Chinese-American fortune cookie.[8][9]

A part of the Noh play Kokaji takes place in Fushimi Inari-taisha.[10]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 全国のお稲荷さんの総本宮、伏見稲荷大社を参拝しました。 [Nationwide Inari Shrines, I visited the Fushimi Inari-taisha.] (in Japanese). Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  2. ↑ Motegi, Sadazumi. "Shamei Bunpu (Shrine Names and Distributions)". Encyclopedia of Shinto. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
  3. ↑ Breen, John et al. (2000). Shinto in History: Ways of the Kami, pp. 74-75.
  4. ↑ Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1962). Studies in Shinto and Shrines, pp. 116-117.
  5. ↑ Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, pp. 124.
  6. ↑ Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric et al. (1998). Japan encyclopedia, p. 224.
  7. ↑ Fushimi Inari Shrine, How to get there
  8. ↑ Lee, Jennifer 8. (January 16, 2008). "Solving a Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery Inside a Cookie" The New York Times. Retrieved on January 16, 2008.
  9. ↑ 8. Lee, Jennifer (January 16, 2008). "Fortune Cookies are really from Japan". The Fortune Cookie Chronicles. Archived from the original on 2011-07-25.
  10. ↑ "Kokaji (pamphlet)" (PDF). noh-kyogen.com. Retrieved 2018-01-09.

References

  • Breen, John and Mark Teeuwen. (2000). Shinto in History: Ways of the Kami. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-2363-4
  • Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (1998). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5
  • Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1962). Studies in Shinto and Shrines. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 399449
  • Ponsonby-Fane, Richard (1959). The Imperial House of Japan. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 194887
  • Smyers, Karen A. (1997). Inari pilgrimage: Following one’s path on the mountain, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 24 (3-4), 427-452


Coordinates: 34°58′02″N 135°46′22″E / 34.96722°N 135.77278°E / 34.96722; 135.77278

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