When I wake up in the morning Tomohiro-san has went to work, and I will soon depart to Tokyo. I get a breakfast and then Setsuko will follow me to the nearest train station. I have been overwhelmed by their hospitality and feel a little bit sorry that I do not have anything that I can give or say to them to fully express my gratitude. From where they live, in Kamo, there are frequent trains to Kyoto. From Kyoto there is of course the Shinkansen. It is perfect weather for travelling, grey and gloomy, with rain in the horizon. I will stop in Kyoto to take a look around, so that does not bode well for my visit there though. I travel in my full henro attire.
Senbon Torii.
I do not have too much time at hand in Kyoto. So I had narrowed down what I wanted to see to two things, either the golden temple of Kinkakuji or the Fushimi Inari-taisha shrine. Kinkakuji (The Golden Pavilion Temple) or Rokuonji (Deer Garden Temple) as it is also known as, is one of the most popular sights in Kyoto and features as the name implies a golden pavilion (shariden hall). However, with my fascination of the Shinto gates, the toriis, I decided to visit Fushimi Inari-taisha.
Picture of the space between the two rows of vermilion toriis forming the Senbon Torii, with around ten thousand of these gates.
Bamboo forest on Inariyama, on the path to the Fushimikanda Shrine.
Fushimi Inari-taisha is the head shrine of the god Inari (the god of rice), located at the foot of the mountain with the same name, Inariyama. It is also known as O-inari-san. It was relocated to its present location by Kōbō Daishi in 816. What drew my attention to the shrine was the line of gates called Senbon Torii, with more than 10 000 of them. Quite as expected is the area around the huge gate, Rōmon, and the main shrine, Honden, alive with a lot of people.
Fushimikanda Shrine.
Today, I was not really bothered by the aspect of walking in such a throng. Or, so I thought, because at one point I did become slightly annoyed. This at a young couple that totally disregarded all those who stood in line to take a shot at one of the famous passages of the Senbon Torii paths. While everyone stood waiting, they took an immense amount of selfies (or selfish). Of course I would not mind that they took a few selfies, but this was on the border of complete ridiculousness. Patience, however, won out in the end and I could get the shot I wanted (I had not really expected to get it actually).
Walkers on the Fushimi Inari Trail going underneath the Senbon Torii. The vermilion colored gates stands in stark contrast to the green and lush forest around.
Needless to say of course, I went straight for the path of the thousand gates. At the beginning, there are two paths, one for the entrance and one for the exit. Here, the toriis stand so close together that they form a tunnel more or less. The line of vermilion toriis stands across the paths all the way up to the top of the mountain, but they do not stand as close together as here in the beginning. In Japanese, the word for vermilion is ake. However, there are numerous ways to write this word in Japanese, given the various characters one can write it in, which will give each word a different meaning. Not only a shade of red then, but also like red in dawn and light.
The Shin-ike Pond on the way to the top of Inariyama.
View of Kyoto from Inariyama.
I have really no plan of what I will see and I have no actual information of the site either. I start to follow a path that is muddy at the beginning, but ends up going through a wonderful bamboo forest. I come to the Fushimikanda Shrine, which is almost a maze of toriis in all sizes, both of tree and stone. Located underneath a green panoply, it has such an atmospheric feeling about, everything green gets so amplified when it is raining. And it is quiet here to, not the place most of the visitors to Fushimi Inari-taisha goes to apparently, just a few. The path further leads to the top of the mountain. I had no planned to go to the top, not knowing how far it is, so I turn back to the line of vermilion toriis going through the green and lush forest.
Foxes are considered to be messengers of Inari, here is a fox purification basin.
However, no matter what my plan was or was not, I end up up at the top of Inariyama. I just kept on going underneath the gates. Too mesmerized to stop walking and go down again. With the sounds of the rain dripping through the green forest around me, memories return to me of when I went up to Kirihataji (#10) on Shikoku. Going up in my henro (no place in my backpack for the hat and staff, and then I could just as well put on the white vest too), I receive a lot of stares from the people I walk past. Both Japanese and foreigners. Some are however telling me that they feel it is great that I walk up as I do.
Yakurikitei, a restplace with a café and shrine.
Mitsurugiya.
There are plenty of small shrines on the way up and to relieve all the walkers on the way, there are numerous places to rest at in cafées. Getting views from the walk was not something I expected in this weather, but I do get some views of Kyoto underway. The whole big city looks grey under this sky. The views might be better on a sunny day, but I still believe that the walk on this path is far more beautiful and atmospheric in this rainy weather, so I would not have switched for a sunny day. And it does not rain very much either. There are also less people up here than at the main shrine below.
Stone lanterns and toriis.
At the top, everything is covered in a grey mist. Ichinomine is the name of the highest point on Inariyama, at 233m. Here is the Kamisha Shinseki, which is the site of a former shrine where a deity (Suehiro Okami) remains. After a brief stop I walk down again. I descend down on the other path that goes up and down from Ichinomine. Another thing about the Fushimi Inari-taisha shrine is the foxes (kitsune), said to be the messengers of Inari Okami. On my walk, I had seen several statues of foxes, some with a key in their mouths (for the granaries).
The Fushimi Inari Trail.
A fox or kitsune statue just below to the summit of Inariyama, Ichinomine.
Down at the main shrine, I do not stay for long. However, upon leaving underneath the Rōmon, a foreign couple with a Japanese man guiding them around (I do not remember their nationality) stops me to ask me about my henro outfit. They were really curious about the Shikoku 88 Temples Pilgrimage.
The Kamisha Sinseki former shrine at the top of Ichinomine, the top of Inariyama.
Kami-Massha Tamayama Inari-sha shrine.
I return to the Kyoto train station. Deciding not to get on the Shinkansen at once, I do make one tourist attraction more, by taking the elevator up to an observation deck in the Kyoto Tower. I can barely see Inariyama and the other hills and mountains around in this weather. Bereft of its green foliage, everything looks more sad. Though from my viewpoint, I can see a lot of temples, and a lot of city. I like the way they announce that a machine is out of order, by sticking a note on it saying 'This machine is just in trouble'.
Fushimi Inari-taisha.
View of the Higashi Honganji Temple from Kyoto Tower.
Finally I buy a ticket to Tokyo and sit down on a train leaving for Tokyo shortly after. When I planned for my trip, I ordered a Shinkansen ticket from Tokyo to Osaka from home. Now, I learn that it is more or less unnecessary, I could just buy a ticket and go. It was a beautiful short stay at Kyoto, thanks to the wonderful Fushimi Inari Trail.
Kyoto from the Kyoto Tower.
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