Fushimi Inari Taisha

The head Inari shrine, where thousands of vermilion torii gates form tunnels up the mountain.

The shrine is famous for its roughly 10,000 bright red-orange torii gates. About 800 of them stand in a row, called the Senbon Torii, and form a tunnel that winds up the mountain. Trails of about 4 kilometres lead to many smaller shrines and take roughly two hours to climb.

History

The shrine is traditionally said to have been founded in 711 by the Hata clan, a powerful group of immigrants from the Korean Peninsula who were skilled in farming. A legend tells that a rich landowner shot an arrow at a rice cake, which turned into a white bird. It flew to the top of Mount Inari, and rice grew where it landed.

Inari began as a god of rice and farming, and later merchants also prayed to Inari for good business. The shrine had the support of the Emperor from the early Heian period.

Gates and foxes

Each torii gate was given by a Japanese business or person, and they mark the entrance to the sacred space of the kami and guard it against evil. Inari has as many as 32,000 smaller shrines across Japan, and this is the main one.

Fox statues stand all around, because foxes are thought to be the messengers of Inari.

On the globe

The model shows the main shrine and the vermilion torii gates winding up the hill.