Step out of Inari Station in southern Kyoto and you stand almost immediately beneath a tall vermilion torii gate. Beyond it rises a two-story vermilion gatehouse flanked by two upright stone foxes, one holding a granary key in its jaws and the other holding a wish-fulfilling jewel. Past the Main Sanctuary the mountain trail begins, where vermilion torii gates stand shoulder to shoulder in twin corridors, bright orange-red on the front and inscribed with black characters on the back, slicing the sunlight into narrow bars across the stone paving as climbers disappear into the cedar forest.
This is Fushimi Inari-taisha (伏見稲荷大社, Sino-Vietnamese Phục Kiến Đạo Hà Đại Xã), affectionately called Oinari-san by the people of Kyoto. The Chinese characters at the top of this page are the official name of the shrine, not a reconstruction by the library. Belonging to Shinto, it serves as the head shrine (sōhongū) of the Inari faith, the parent sanctuary from which, according to the shrine's official records, roughly thirty thousand Inari shrines across Japan have received divided spirits. Originally the deity of rice and abundant harvests and later the patron of commerce and industry, Inari is perhaps the kami closest to everyday household and working life in Japan.
IInari Ōkami and the Five Divine Names
The deity worshipped here is known collectively as Inari Ōkami, enshrined under five distinct divine names within a single Main Sanctuary. At the center sits Ukanomitama no Ōkami, the deity of grain and food, occupying the Lower Shrine (Shimoyashiro). To the north sits Satahiko no Ōkami in the Middle Shrine (Nakayashiro), and to the south sits Ōmiyanome no Ōkami in the Upper Shrine (Kamiyashiro). Flanking them at the far north and far south are Tanaka no Ōkami and Shi no Ōkami. Worshippers address all five together simply as Inari Ōkami.
In Shinto, a single sacred spirit (kami) may be venerated under multiple names corresponding to different facets of divine virtue. According to the shrine's official website, the name Inari derives from Ine nari or Ine ni naru (the growing or ripening of rice), later written with the two characters 稲荷 (literally carrying rice on the shoulder), from which come food, sake, and agricultural abundance. As Japanese society urbanized and trade expanded, worshippers came to pray to Inari for commercial prosperity, handicraft skill, and household safety, setting up Inari shrines in town neighborhoods, workshops, and even on department-store rooftops. White foxes (byakko) are revered as invisible messengers (kenzoku) of the deity, which is why stone fox guardians watch over every corner of the precinct.
The shrine's official history records that on the first Horse Day (Hatsuuma) of the second month of 711 (the fourth year of the Wadō era), Hata no Irogu (Irogu no Hatanokimi), ancestor of the Hata clan, enshrined the deities on the three peaks of Mount Inari by imperial command of Empress Genmei. A famous passage from the ancient provincial gazetteer of Yamashiro Province (Yamashirokoku Fudoki, 713) relates that when Irogu shot an arrow at a rice cake used as an archery target, the rice cake turned into a white bird and flew to the mountain peak, where rice plants sprouted on the spot it landed, giving rise to the name Inari. The spelling with the characters 稲荷 appears in an imperial edict of Emperor Junna dated 827 in the chronicle Ruijū Kokushi. The library records the white-bird narrative as the shrine's founding legend. In 927 the shrine was listed among the great shrines in the Engishiki legal code, and in 942 it was granted the highest divine rank of Senior First Rank (Shōichii).
Seeing fox statues at every turn, many visitors assume that Fushimi Inari-taisha worships foxes. It does not. Within the Inari faith, foxes are messengers and attendants of Inari Ōkami rather than the deity itself. The objects held in the foxes' mouths, such as a granary key, a sheaf of rice, a sacred scroll, or a wish-fulfilling jewel, symbolize the blessings bestowed by the deity rather than the animal.
IIFrom Three Mountain Peaks to Thirty Thousand Shrines
Japanese chronicles describe the Hata clan as an influential immigrant lineage from the Asian continent via the Korean Peninsula, skilled in wet-rice farming, silk weaving, flood control, and finance, who settled the Kyoto basin long before Heian-kyō became the imperial capital. The shrine they founded on Mount Inari began as the tutelary sanctuary of an agricultural and silk-weaving clan, was chosen by the monk Kūkai in 823 as the protective deity of Tō-ji temple in Kyoto, and grew over the centuries into the nationwide center of the Inari faith. The milestones below follow the shrine's official history.
- 711Enshrinement on Mount InariHata no Irogu enshrines Inari Ōkami on the three peaks (Mitsugamine) of Mount Inari in the fourth year of the Wadō era. The founding date is commemorated annually on Hatsuuma, the first Horse Day of the second month.
- 927 and 942Engishiki Listing and Senior First RankIn 927 the shrine is registered among the Myōjin Taisha (major shrines of notable deities) in the Engishiki code, and in 942 the imperial court grants it the highest divine rank, Senior First Rank (Shōichii).
- 1468Destruction in the Ōnin WarThe shrine buildings at the foot of the mountain are burned down during the Ōnin War in 1468. Rites continue while funds are gathered across the provinces for reconstruction.
- 1499Rebuilding of the Main SanctuaryThe present Main Sanctuary (Honden) is completed in the eighth year of the Meiō era (1499), uniting all five divine seats under one roof. In 1999 the shrine celebrates the 500th anniversary of the hall.
- 1589Construction of the Rōmon GateThe two-story Rōmon gate in front of the sanctuary is erected through a donation by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in thanksgiving for his mother Ōmandokoro's recovery from illness.
- 1909Cultural Property DesignationAfter the shrine is ranked as an Imperial Shrine of the First Class (Kanpei Taisha) in 1871, the 1499 Main Sanctuary is designated a National Treasure under the old law in 1909 (now an Important Cultural Property of Japan). In 1946 the shrine becomes an independent religious corporation.
Regarding the total number of Inari shrines, Fushimi Inari-taisha's official website states that roughly 30,000 shrines across Japan are dedicated to Inari, a figure widely cited across reference works. That count covers formally registered shrines and does not include the countless small Inari wayside shrines and altars kept inside private homes, workshops, and corporate buildings, which folklorists note would raise the total far higher. The library records the official figure given by the head shrine.
IIIThe Main Sanctuary, the Rōmon Gate, and the Vermilion Torii Trails
The precinct divides naturally into two realms. At the western foot of the mountain lies the main ritual compound, progressing from the outer torii gate through the two-story Rōmon gate, the Outer Worship Hall (Gehaiden), and the Inner Worship Hall (Naihaiden) to the Main Sanctuary (Honden) behind. Rising above the sanctuary is the entire forested body of Mount Inari, threaded by stone paths beneath tunnels of vermilion torii gates and dotted with sacred rock-altar mounds called otsuka set up by devotional confraternities. Vermilion (shu-iro) is the signature color of the entire complex.
Rebuilt in 1499 in the distinctive five-bay Inari-zukuri style with a sweeping cypress-bark roof extending forward over the step canopy. Enshrining all five deities from north to south under one roof, it is an Important Cultural Property of Japan.
Two-story vermilion gatehouse built in 1589 through the patronage of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the largest shrine gate of its kind in the Kyoto region and an Important Cultural Property. Two stone foxes sit on high pedestals on either side.
Meaning a thousand torii gates, these two parallel rows of tightly spaced vermilion gates just behind the main compound form the iconic entrance to the mountain pilgrimage circuit.
According to the shrine and japan-guide, the custom of donating a torii gate to express a wish or give thanks dates back to the Edo period, with the donor's name and date carved in black on the rear pillars.
A resting point about halfway up the mountain where the trail splits into the circular summit route (Omeguri) around the three peaks, offering a sweeping view west across the Kyoto Basin.
Rising 233 meters at its highest peak (Ichi-no-mine), the southernmost of the 36 peaks of the Higashiyama range. The entire mountain is revered as the sacred precinct where the deities descended in 711.
Travel guides frequently quote exact totals for the torii gates on Mount Inari, with different books giving different numbers. The shrine's official website does not publish a fixed headcount, and because weathered wooden gates are continually taken down and new votive gates erected in their place, any static number quickly becomes inaccurate. The library therefore refrains from citing a fixed number. Even the name Senbon Torii (a thousand torii) is a traditional Japanese expression meaning a multitude rather than a literal count.
IVLandform and Orientation
A clear distinction is needed before reading this section. Shinto does not use geomancy (phong thủy) in the sense familiar to Vietnamese tradition. Shinto shrine sites are established where a deity descended, where ancient rites were performed, or where mountains, forests, and springs evoke sacred presence. While Japan developed its own domestic house-divination lore (kasō) and laid out the capital Heian-kyō (Kyoto) on the Four Directional Guardians model with mountains to the north, a river to the east, a highway to the west, and a marshland to the south, the library does not apply kasō here. Instead, the paragraphs below present the library's comparative reading through traditional Vietnamese geomancy so readers have a point of reference, noting explicitly that this is an interpretive reading rather than shrine doctrine.
The most striking feature is the mountain. In Vietnamese geomancy, a temple or communal house typically leans against a hill as its rear pillow (hậu chẩm). Here the mountain serves both as the rear support and as the sacred realm itself, since the deities were enshrined atop the three peaks before any halls stood at the base. Read in classical terms, this is a posture of the deity dwelling in the mountain (thần cư sơn), where the halls at the foot act as the threshold through which worshippers approach the mountain. The three peaks rising in succession from west to east also recall the auspicious Three Terrace Stars (tam thai) landform praised in traditional manuals.
In orientation, the main compound stands at the western foot of Mount Inari and the approach ascends eastward from Inari Station, meaning that the Main Sanctuary faces west with its back resting against the eastern peaks. While shrine texts do not frame this in directional theory, facing west opens the shrine directly toward the Kyoto Basin, looking out over the ancient rice paddies and the modern merchant city that Inari protects. That spatial relationship closely parallels how traditional Vietnamese village communal houses (đình) turn their faces toward the village fields and waterways.
In terms of the Five Phases (ngũ hành), Inari is the deity of rice, which grows from the soil and belongs to Earth and Wood. The pervasive vermilion lacquer of the torii gates corresponds to Fire, and in five-phase theory Fire generates Earth (Hỏa sinh Thổ). Viewed through that lens, the winding corridors of vermilion gates ascending the slopes form a continuous stream of Fire nourishing the Earth of the grain deity. The library notes this as a comparative reading alongside the shrine's own Shinto explanation of vermilion (shu) as the color of sunlight, vitality, and protection against misfortune.
Finally, there is the path. The torii trail climbs the mountain in winding curves, steps, and forks rather than cutting straight up the slope. In classical geomancy, vital breath moving along a meandering path slows down and gathers, whereas a straight line rushes and scatters. By following the natural contours of the ridges and valleys, the vermilion tunnel achieves that gathering rhythm organically.
VFestivals of the Rice Cycle and the Day of the Horse
Fushimi Inari-taisha follows the modern Japanese solar calendar for most of its annual rites, while retaining the sexagenary cycle for the Hatsuuma festival in February. Just as at Ise Grand Shrine, the liturgical year turns with the life cycle of the rice plant from transplanting to harvest and thanksgiving, yet whereas Ise venerates the imperial sun goddess at the apex of Shinto, Fushimi Inari celebrates the grain and merchant deity closest to ordinary householders. According to the shrine's official website, its grandest annual festival is the Inari-sai in April and May, when five sacred palanquins tour the surrounding parish neighborhoods.
| Date | Calendar | Festival | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Horse Day of February | Sexagenary cycle in February | Hatsuuma Taisai | Commemorates the enshrinement of the deities on Mount Inari in 711, calculated by the twelve earthly branches (Horse Day). |
| Sunday nearest April 20 | Gregorian solar calendar | Inari-sai Shinkō-sai | Departure procession of the shrine's grandest annual festival, when five sacred palanquins (mikoshi) set out to bless the parish districts. |
| May 3 | Gregorian solar calendar | Inari-sai Kankō-sai | Return procession of the five sacred palanquins from the Otabisho travelling lodge back to the main shrine. |
| June 10 | Gregorian solar calendar | Taue-sai | Sacred Rice-Planting Festival in the shrine's ritual paddy, accompanied by classical court music and dance. |
| July | Gregorian solar calendar | Motomiya-sai | Homecoming festival when worshippers from branch Inari shrines across Japan gather at the head shrine among thousands of lit red lanterns. |
| October 25 | Gregorian solar calendar | Nukiho-sai | Ritual harvesting of the ripened rice stalks from the sacred paddy to be offered at the November fire festival. |
| November 8 | Gregorian solar calendar | Hitaki-sai | Autumn Fire Festival of Thanksgiving, burning hundreds of thousands of wooden prayer sticks (hitakigushi) sent by worshippers nationwide along with the sacred rice sheaves. |
| November 23 | Gregorian solar calendar | Niiname-sai | Harvest Thanksgiving Rite offering the year's new grain to the deities. |
For readers familiar with East Asian lunar and sexagenary calendars, the Hatsuuma festival offers an immediate point of connection, since its date is determined by the twelve-branch cycle (the Day of the Horse) in the same way traditional Vietnamese almanacs reckon auspicious Horse or Rat days. According to the shrine's records, the founding enshrinement of 711 fell on the first Horse Day of the second month, and pilgrimages to Mount Inari on Hatsuuma have been celebrated in Japanese literature since the Heian period.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- 68 Fukakusa Yabunouchi-cho, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto 612-0882 (京都市伏見区深草薮之内町68)
- Getting there
- Fushimi Inari-taisha is located in Fushimi Ward in southern Kyoto, directly across from JR Inari Station on the JR Nara Line (about five minutes from Kyoto Station) and a short walk east of Fushimi-Inari Station on the Keihan Main Line.
- Coordinates
- 34.9671, 135.7727
Following standard Shinto etiquette at the shrine, visitors rinse their hands and mouth at the water pavilion (temizuya) before approaching the hall, then bow twice, clap twice, and bow once more before the Worship Hall. Visitors should not climb onto the stone otsuka mounds or step inside the small private shrines along the mountain paths, as these are sacred altars maintained by devotional groups. Because the full circular trail to the 233-meter summit consists of steep stone steps taking two to three hours round trip, visitors should pace themselves and may turn back at any point along the way.
Nearby places in the library
VIIContribute To This Page
Contribute photos, information or video for Fushimi Inari-taisha
Góp ảnh, thông tin hoặc video cho Thần xã Fushimi Inari (Fushimi Inari Taisha)Everyone is welcome to enrich this page: a photo you took, a detail the page misses, a short video. Every contribution is read and answered.
Thầy Ưng Khiêm mời cộng đồng cùng làm giàu trang này. Ảnh chụp tận nơi, một chi tiết lịch sử chưa được nhắc, một đoạn video ngắn: mọi đóng góp đều được đọc và trả lời.
No community contribution yet. You could be the first. Chưa có đóng góp nào từ cộng đồng. Bạn có thể là người đầu tiên.
?Quick Questions
Who is enshrined at Fushimi Inari-taisha?
The shrine venerates Inari Ōkami, the Shinto deity of rice, agriculture, and prosperous business, enshrined under five divine names within a single Main Sanctuary with Ukanomitama no Ōkami at the center. The stone foxes on the grounds are revered as the deity's messengers rather than the deity itself. Fushimi Inari-taisha serves as the head shrine of roughly 30,000 Inari shrines across Japan.
How many torii gates are at Fushimi Inari-taisha?
The shrine's official website does not state a fixed number. Guidebooks offer varying estimates, and because weathered wooden gates are continually replaced and new votive gates added, the library does not cite a single static count. The famous name Senbon Torii (a thousand torii) is an idiomatic expression meaning a great multitude.
When was Fushimi Inari-taisha founded?
According to the shrine's official history, Hata no Irogu of the Hata clan enshrined the deities on the three peaks of Mount Inari in 711. After the lower buildings burned down in 1468, the present Main Sanctuary (Honden) was rebuilt in 1499 and is designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan, along with the 1589 Rōmon gate donated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
Why are there fox statues throughout Fushimi Inari-taisha?
In the Inari faith, white foxes (byakko) are regarded as invisible messengers and attendants of Inari Ōkami. The objects held in the statues' jaws, such as a granary key, a rice sheaf, a scroll, or a jewel, symbolize the blessings granted by the deity. Worshippers pray to Inari Ōkami, not to the foxes.
What is the most important festival at Fushimi Inari-taisha?
According to the shrine's official calendar, the largest annual festival is the Inari-sai, which begins with the Shinkō-sai departure procession on the Sunday nearest April 20 and concludes with the Kankō-sai return procession of the five sacred palanquins on May 3. The Hatsuuma Taisai on the first Horse Day of February commemorates the shrine's founding in 711.