Traveler Description
This shrine is one of many located throughout Japan that was built to honor Inari, the Shinto god of rice.

Address: Inari Station

Traveler Reviews

Magical Experience
Reviewed by A TripAdvisor Member on Oct 8, 2008


My family and I spent 3 days in Kyoto during our vacation in Japan this past June and the top of our attractions list to visit in Kyoto was the Fushimi Inari Shrine and we were not disappointed. We took the rail line to Fushimi as soon as we arrived at the Kyoto Train station from Tokyo (we had placed our luggage in a locker at the train station) and this worked out well as Fushimi was in the opposite direction of our hotel - the Westin Mikado. The Fushimi Inari Shrine is absolutely wonderful. My son and I particularly wanted to go there after seeing "Memoirs of Geisha" and we are so happy that we did - we only wished we had more time to spend there. After our trip to Japan, my family agreed that this Fushimi Inari Shrine was at the top of our lists of favorite things we did during our entire Japan trip. If we have an opportunity to visit beautiful Kyoto again in the future, we would be sure to get to Fushimi in the morning, especially if it's summer as the days can be quite warm and humid, plus we would have more time to spend admiring such a beautiful place.

Favourite shrine in Kyoto
Reviewed by A TripAdvisor Member on Jun 11, 2008


My husband and I visited Japan last week and spent 2 days in Kyoto. We visited several shrines, but our favourite was the Fushimi Inari Shrine. This was the location of some of the scenes in the movie, Memoires of a Geisha. The thousands of tori gates are beautiful as they wind through the forest up the hill.

i`ll never forget it
Reviewed by A TripAdvisor Member on Oct 4, 2006


This shrine is much different, you have do "work" (to walk 2 houres, the hill up and down) not only to look, but you will never forget it

A secret wonder of the world
Reviewed by A TripAdvisor Member on Mar 12, 2006


This very important shrine lies just south of the main Kyoto train station. It was dedicated to the god of rice and sake in the eighth century, but now is mainly patronized for intercession in business matters. The monstrous gate guards a complex of several smaller, lantern-laden buildings and a path leading around the mountain. As I understand it, this Inari shrine was the first of its kind and is now the head of about 35,000 Inari shrines all across Japan. The main gate and shrine are the entrance to the paths which criss-cross the mountain which holds five smaller shrines. These smaller shrines are all linked by these paths. The fox is an important animal in Japanese lore and is considered to be the mesenger of Inari. There are many stone foxes all over the mountain. There is a prevalent superstition about foxes among the Japanese. It is said that they are capable of possessing numan beings, making them lose their minds and go wild. There are old stories of men and women who lost themselves to the spirit of the fox, abandoned their lives in the cities, and went out into the wilderness to live just as the foxes do. At Inari shrines, it's common to see ema, or wishing plaques, in the shape of a fox's head. You will see a photo of me here joining the ritual with my wishes of peace and love. If you are lucky enough to get a chance to visit this interesting shrine, you will never see so many tori gates in one place ever again! There are thousands of them forming the paths around the mountain to each of the five other shrines. Because Inari now insures prosperity in business, many businesses and people have donated stone or wooden tori gates to Inari. Many times their names can be seen on a stamp, placard or glued paper to the tori gate they have donated. A visit to the Fushimi-Inari Taisha Shrine and the mountain it is on makes a good day stroll, but the best time to go is the early evening; that's when the real magic happens. The lights are extremely dim through the forest canopy and the entire area is alive with the sounds of the native wildlife. It makes for an extremely eerie walk through the maze of tori gates; it's even more exciting if you manage to get lost! While there is still daylight it is dark enough in the tori-tunnels... But after the sun sets it can be downright spine-chilling! This could easily be the setting for a Japanese horror movie! While it is out of the way, a visit to this shrine is well worth the effort. Make sure you allot yourself plenty of time to explore the shrines and walk around the mountain.. I haven't seen anywhere else like it!

inolvidable
Reviewed by A TripAdvisor Member on Apr 14, 2008


Estuve aqui a primera hora de la manana de un dia primaveral de finales de marzo, al haber poca gente, la atmosfera era perfecta para disfrutar del paseo de 4 km ascendentes de toriis rojos, te sentias en otro mundo, en otra dimension, con el graznido de los cuervos como unica compania y el verde del bosque para engradecer aun mas la sensacion de estar en medio de una leyenda. Me encanto la experiencia, es un lugar magico en el que no puedes evitar querer fotografiar cada torii, pero eso si, para el aficionado a la fotografia, que vaya en un momento del dia con mas luz pq el rojo de los torii sera aun mas luminoso y bello. Lo malo es que quizas entonces sea mas complicado hacer fotos entre tanta gente porque es uno de los templos mas visitados de todo Japon.