South Ern Kyoto

The torii at Fushimi-Inari-taishaFushimi Inari Shrine (伏見稲荷大社 Fushimi-Inari-taisha). Another of Kyoto’s often-overlooked jewels, about twenty-minutes to the south of Kyoto. Dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of cereals, Fushimi-Inari-taisha is the head shrine (taisha) for 40,000 Inari shrines across Japan. Stretching 230 meters up the hill behind it are hundreds of bright red torii (gates). A visitor could easily spend several hours walking up the hillside, taking in the beautiful views of the city of Kyoto and walking through the torii, which appear luminescent in the late afternoon sun. Countless stone foxes, also referred to as Inari, are also dotted along the path. (Fushimi-Inari-taisha, photo by Howard Banwell, 2003) Approaching the shrine, local delicacies are sold at the roadside, including barbecued sparrow and inari-sushi (sweetened sushi rice wrapped in fried tofu), which is said to be the favourite food of the fox. Admission is free. Be warned, the shrine is located close to Fushimi Inari and Inari stations, but is nowhere near Fushimi station! The easiest way to get here is to take the JR Nara line from Kyoto station to Inari station, which exits immediately opposite the entrance to the shrine. Kyoto Accommodation Looking for accommodation in Kyoto? Please support our site by using our hotel reservation system. Kyoto Hotel (Article based on Wikitravel article by Wikitravel users Nzpcmad, Jose Ramos, John Grillo, Brian Kurkoski, Howard Banwell, Mary and Yann Forget, Jpatokal, Huttite, Miknon and MykReeve. Artilce used under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0.) | | |