Page 191 - WDT INTERACTIVE

Here and there a larger shrine festooned with banners
and streamers fills a bosky alcove on the side of the
trail. Stone foxes, or kitsune, are a common sight on
Beneath the Vermilion Gates sengers for Inari, the god of rice. With light dappling
the trail up Mount Inari.
Often garbed in red, the foxes are said to be mes-

her face and kimono, a visitor in traditional garb
promenades beneath Fushimi Inari’s torii gates. The
gates are donated by individuals and businesses, and
are inscribed with the name and date of the donation.

and inscribed with the name of donors, who likely
contributed the gate in gratitude for a blessing.
The Fushimi Inari shrine is only two train stops from
the central Kyoto station on Japan Rail’s Kyoto-Nara
line, and is a short walk from the Fushimi Inari station.
So it is easy to jump on the train in Kyoto, visit the
shrine, and return to central Kyoto in less than a half a
day, dedicating as much time to strolling through the
torii gates as you wish.

WINEDINEANDTRAVEL.COM 191