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Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine

Main Shrine of 30,000 Inari Shrines

Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine, located under Mount Inariyama, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, is the main shrine of more than 30,000 Inari shrines in Japan. It is dedicated to the Inari god, who blesses the harvest. The symbols of the shrine are the fox and the vermillion torii.

Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine 伏見稲荷大社 is located at the foot of Mt. Inari, Fushimi-ku 伏見, Kyoto, and is the main shrine of Japan’s more than 30,000 Inari Shrines. Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine was founded in 711 A.D. The shrine’s halls were burned down during the Onin Rebellion 応仁の乱, and most of the shrine’s buildings were built after the 16th century.

When people think of Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine, the first thing that comes to mind is the rows of torii gates, known as Senbon Torii 千本鳥居. There are more than 10,000 torii in the shrine, and most of them have names of companies, associations or individuals carved on the back.

Senbon Torii

Manywhere Trivia:
Inari Shrine is the god of wealth for the Japanese, and for a “mere” 10 million yen you can build a torii in Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine, so you are the actual god of wealth for the shrine.

The Main Gate of the Shrine was built in 1589 with donations from Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the gate also has his prayer written on it. In Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine’s Main Hall, the five Inari gods, led by Ukanomitama 宇迦之御魂神, are enshrined to bless the world’s farmers for abundant crops and merchants for a prosperous business.

Fox statues inside the shrine

Foxes are the messengers of the Inari Daijin (God of Inari), and their statues are everywhere in Inari Taisha, even Shrine's Emas 絵馬 are made in the shape of foxes.