Fushimi Inari-taisha 伏見稲荷大社 is a Shinto shrine. As the name implies, it is mainly about rice and agriculture. However, for many, particularly for foreigners, it is famous for the 10,000 torii all over the mountain.
When we got there on a cold morning, it was quite crowded. Fortunately, we we climbed up through the columns of torii, the crowd started to thin.
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About half way up the mountain, most people stopped, and turned back down.
My youngest daughter and I pushed on. She had to stopped a few times to wait for me, but I didn’t give up. Now we can start to enjoy the climb, and the quiet.
And we read the inscriptions on the torii. Who offered it? When? Some of them were obviously quite old, setup during the reign of the previous emperor, or the one before, and the one before that. But there are also many that were set up during reign of the current emperor, who has only been reigning for a few years.
The further you go, the further you can see, and the quieter it gets. Along the way, many many small shrines to a wide range of deities were set up. It gives you a sense of what many of the Japanese believe, and how.
It is clearly worth the effort to climb the mountain.
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