Inari Okami – Susan Spann, Adventure, Mystery, and Mountains

A Visit to Nezu Jinja, Part 2

Susan Spann Blog January 12, 2018January 14, 2018best shrines in Tokyo, Inari, Inari Okami, Japan, Nezu Jinja, Nezu Shrine, shinto shrines, Tokyo

(To read Part 1, click here.) Like many Shintō shrines in Japan, Nezu Jinja features a subshrine dedicated to Inari Ōkami, the kami (god) of foxes, rice, sake, fertility, swordsmiths, merchants, agriculture, and worldly success (among other things). There are over 10,000 Inari shrines across Japan — and with good reason, given Japan’s historical dependence upon rice as a primary source of food (and, at one time, as the measure of wealth as well).

Starting up the Mountain at Fushimi Inari Taisha

Admin Uncategorized June 27, 2016Fushimi Inari Shrine, Fushimi Inari Taisha, Inari Okami, Japan, Shinto

(This blog picks up where last week’s tour of Fushimi Inari left off. To start at the beginning, click here.) Fushimi Inari’s primary altar stands just past the massive entry gates. Although the shrine has many altars – large ones as well as lesser ones (some dedicated to Inari and others to different kami, though most of them are Inari’s since it’s Inari’s sacred mountain). Behind the main altar, and to the left, stands the first and widest of the many staircases that lead visitors up the sacred mountain. Three sub-shrines with collection boxes sit at the top of the first large staircase, along with

A Visit to Fushimi Inari Taisha

Admin Uncategorized June 20, 2016Fushimi Inari Taisha, Inari Okami, Japan, Shinto

Estimates place the total number of Inari shrines in Japan at over 10,000 – but the largest and most important is Fushimi Inari Taisha, just south of Kyoto.