Ravenhill Adventures: Kyoto Morning: the Vermillion Gates of Fushimi Inari

Now, I know this might sound crazy, but what I really wanted to do was go for a nice long walk with Marchelo around Kyoto. It had not even been a week since the Iheya Marathon, and despite all of our wanderings around Okinawa, Miyajima, Hiroshima, and Osaka, my feet were still itching to explore.

From our little house we were only about 3 miles from Mt. Inari and the famous red torii gates: #1 on my list of things to see in Kyoto. Kate wanted to visit the famous Golden Temple, which is situated on the north side of town. There is so much to see in Kyoto that instead of trying to do it all, we decided to go our separate ways and enjoy different sights at different speeds. The plan was to meet back up at Mt. Inari after sunset. Just like Miyajima, Mt. Inari is a very famous tourist destination and is always crowded. What many people don’t know is that the entire mountain is a shrine and is therefore always open to the public, 24/7. Going back to see the shrine at night would not only thin the crowds, but it would also give us the chance to experience this special place illuminated at night.

Marchelo and I stepped out the door with no real plans; only a destination on the map and the whole day to get there.

There is so much to love about exploring a new place by foot. Before our walk I really had no idea that there were so many canals coursing through Kyoto. We wandered over bridges and along waterways, just as the fall leaves were beginning to turn. It was so tranquil that you could easily forget the bustling city center only a few miles away. When riding the train in the bigger cities the presence of a couple of westerners is barely noticed. Strolling through these small intimate neighborhoods, however, earned us a few sideways glances from the locals. This is clearly not an area of town that sees a lot of tourists. Perfect. Just the way I like it :)

We hadn’t gone too far before needing a cup coffee, so we pulled over into a tiny little shop operated by 1 old lady and her friend. We were the only patrons, so we sat at the bar to chat with the owner. I had my google translation app up on my phone while she had a giant English phrase book on the counter. Together we relished in our mutual desire to communicate. We told her were were from California and that we had run a marathon ("sugoi!"), that we had traveled from Okinawa to Hiroshima to Osaka to here (also "sugoi!"). The best laugh was when she asked how old were were (35?! No, can’t be!). I told her how beautiful her country is, how kind and thoughtful the people have been. She was so thankful to hear it, and was glad that we had come into her shop. Once we had our coffee, it was time to keep walking.

Fushimi Inari Shrine (伏見稲荷大社) is dedicated to the Shinto god of rice, and is famous for its thousands of vermilion torii gates straddling miles of trails that lead to the summit of the sacred Mount Inari. Foxes are thought to be Inari's messengers, which is why there are statues all across the shrine grounds, some of which carry keys in their mouths which represent the key to the grain silo, i.e., good fortune.

At the shrine's entrance stands the famous Romon Gate, which was donated in 1589. Fushimi Inari Shrine itself has ancient origins predating the capital's move to Kyoto in 794.

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"). I personally like to refer to this section as the “bunny slopes” of Mt. Inari. While most tourists walk through this section for the torii gate experience, it doesn’t begin to adequately prepare you for the miles of trail hiking it takes to summit the mountain top.

We walked the temple grounds and joined the other tourists in Senbon Torii. The number of people taking selfies was a bit maddening, so I was glad to see a small side trail leading away from the throngs. Down aways we found much older shrines, with torri gates and foxes made of stone instead of wood.

I am a firm believer in taking the path less traveled, and in this case it lead us to sections of the shrine that no one else bothered to visit or see. I could almost feel the fox spirits smiling their toothy grins as we gave in to our curiosity. There we were, at one of the most popular tourist destinations in all of Japan, and we had this beautiful bamboo forest trail and stone shrine all to ourselves.

We decided to wait on climbing to the top until Kate and Jon joined us that night and the crowds would be gone. Until then, it was time for some green tea ice cream with little fox wafer cookies.