Kyoto and a Dream Come True

Kyoto, the cultural heart of Japan, was a dream. Walking through the streets, we glimpsed traditional wooden machiya houses and even spotted a geisha moving gracefully through the alleyways. The golden glow of Kinkaku-ji, the beauty of Okochi Sanso garden, and the serenity of Arashiyama’s bamboo forest all felt like stepping into another era.

But nothing compared to the moment we stood beneath the Torii gates of Fushimi Inari Taisha, those iconic vermillion-red marvels. The long, uphill hike to the top was a journey in itself, each gate marking another step toward the breathtaking view that awaited us. It was worth all the huffing and puffing to get to the top.

Fushimi Inari Shrine (伏見稲荷大社, Fushimi Inari Taisha) is an important Shinto shrine in southern Kyoto. It is famous for its thousands of vermilion torii gates, which straddle a network of trails behind its main buildings. The trails lead into the wooded forest of the sacred Mount Inari, which stands at 233 meters and belongs to the shrine grounds.

Fushimi Inari is the most important of several thousands of shrines dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice. Foxes are thought to be Inari’s messengers, resulting in many fox statues across the shrine grounds. Fushimi Inari Shrine has ancient origins, predating the capital’s move to Kyoto in 794.

At the shrine’s entrance stands the Romon Gate, which was donated in 1589 by the famous leader Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Behind stands the shrine’s main hall (honden) where all visitors are encouraged to pay respect to the resident deity by making a small offering.

An ancient Japanese legend says that a person who folds 1,000 origami cranes will have his or her wish granted by the kami. An alternate version of the legend says that folding 1,000 cranes will earn a person long life, good health, and/or recovery from illness. Regardless of the reward, folding cranes is a tradition in Japan, and the cranes themselves are customarily donated to a shrine upon completion. The colourful strands are sets of 1,000 cranes hanging near the entrance to Fushimi Inari Shrine.

At the very back of the shrine’s main grounds is the entrance to the torii gate-covered hiking trail, which starts with two dense, parallel rows of gates called Senbon Torii (“thousands of torii gates”). The torii gates along the entire trail are donations by individuals and companies, and you will find the donator’s name and the date of the donation inscribed on the back of each gate.

The hike to the summit of the mountain and back takes about 2-3 hours, however, visitors are free to walk just as far as they wish before turning back. Along the way, there are multiple smaller shrines with stacks of miniature torii gates that were donated by visitors with smaller budgets.

After about a 30-45 minute ascent and a gradual decrease in the density of torii gates, visitors will reach the Yotsutsuji intersection roughly half way up the mountain, where some nice views over Kyoto can be enjoyed, and the trail splits into a circular route to the summit.

I hope you enjoyed this post about Fushimi Inari Taisha and the Torii gates. Definitely a highlight for me, as I’ve seen photos and never thought I’d get to see it. Thank you japan-guide.com for the information.

In my next post, I’ll share a bit more about Kyoto and some other sights we saw. Until then, keep making beautiful stuff.

Ana