Shinto Shrines: A Guide to the Sacred Sites of Japan's Ancient Religion

KYOTO

KYOTO 100 KYOTO KYOTO 101 Fushimi Inari Taisha I mportant physical features: From "¡&>  +     torii mark-  ’  >    -       ’          >        [›•         honden    [›–– #         kami) in a nagare-zukuri      > ƒ        >             >    >    €romon#4 5$    }   [“ –   the ochaya# $    the honden      -   ˆ 3 `*   ’  >              torii       >            >            ` -                     4 ` ˆ  5 Fushimi Inari Taisha honden DATE FOUNDED: Established at the top of Mount Inari in A.D. 711 by the Hata clan and moved to the present location in the ninth century. ADDRESS: 68 Fukakusa Yabunouchi-cho, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto 612-0882 TEL/INFORMATION: 075-641-7331. A pamphlet in English is available for free. HOW TO GET THERE: JR Nara Line to Inari Station (2 stops from Kyoto Station), then 1 minute by foot. Or take the Keihan Line to Fushimi-Inari Station and pass through the shopping street for food or gifts (about 5 minutes’ walk). ENSHRINED KAMI: Uka no mitama no okami, Satahiko no okami, and Omiya no me no okami. Including the two kami of the sessha Tanaka no okami and Shi no okami they are called the “five pillars” (gohashira) of Inari or simply the Inari kami. PRAYERS OFFERED: Abundant crops, success in business, the well-being of the family, safety on the roadways, and protection from danger. At specific locations on the mountain, prayers are also offered for other benefits. BEST TIME TO GO: Fushimi Inari is Kyoto’s most popular destination for New Year’s hatsumode. The walk up the mountain behind the shrine can be enjoyed in any season, but particularly when the autumn color is at its best in late November and early December. MAP 1 102 KYOTO The shrine grounds encompass the three peaks of Mount Inari, and besides the thousands of torii are thousands of otsuka stone altars and fox statues. Worshippers started settingupstonealtarsintheMeijiperiod ,andthey bear a remarkable resemblance to the sanzon ishi (three-Buddha stone arrangement) of Japanese gardens. The stones are engraved with the names of kami that have either been created by believers or imported from other places. They are clustered in such high concentrations that they look to the uninitiated almost like a graveyard. The stones represent just one of the many personalized cults and practices that make up the complex of Inari worship. I mportant spiritual features: The kami of Fushimi Inari Taisha are closely tied to agriculture and to the land. Though originally three, Tanaka no okami and Shi no    [š••           >      the original three is Uka no mitama no okami, mentioned in both the Kojiki and Nihon shoki. The Inari kami was also amalgamated with the Buddhist deity Daikiniten from an early date and retains a position in both religions. The second most important place of Inari worship , for example, is said to be Toyokawa Inari in Aichi, which is the Zen temple Myogonji. Another important site of Inari worship is Saijo Inari, a Nichiren Buddhist temple in Okayama. But every shrine, Shinto or otherwise , does not enshrine the same three kami as Fushimi (though many enshrine Uka no mitama). In fact, over the centuries, “Inari” has become a sort of umbrella term for a wide range of deities and beliefs. Inari practices were largely unaltered by Meiji reforms and still incorporate many forms of folk religion such as the “seven mysterious traditions” (Inari yama no nana fushigi). They have varied over time, and lists found on web pages include ten or eleven different traditions . Some of them are endorsed by the shrine and some are not. They include such things as the omo-karu ishi (“heavy light stones”), a form of divination using the hoju spheres on top of stone lanterns. The worshipper faces two lanterns and asks a question, then lifts the spheres from the tops of the lanterns. If they feel lighter than expected, the answer is positive. Another practice is the Osanba-san no rosoku. At Osanba-san, the Midwife Inari shrine at the bottom of the mountain, it is said that after a candle is lit and prayed over, the burned stub should be given to a woman when she is about to give birth. In the time it takes the stub to burn out, the birth will be successfully completed. In addition, Fushimi Inari Taisha represents a perfect middle ground between the options of visiting a single shrine and going on a long pilgrimage. This is due to the tradition of making a pilgrimage to the many sacred          >   3  itself. Since about the twelfth century, it has been a mark of worship in...