伏見稲荷神社のお守り A Charm from Fushimi Inari Shrine

The bustling entrance to Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto. Visitors come from all over to pray for luck in business, an adaptation from the traditional prayers for luck with rice and harvest. 

Fushimi Inari Shrine is something that should be on every person's travel itinerary when they go to Kyoto. It's appeared in many televisions series and films (Memoirs of a Geisha), and is famous for its several thousand tori, or red Shinto gates.

Fushimi Inari is the headquarters of shrines dedicated to grain. You may have noticed other posts with "inari" in the title, such as Sasuke Inari Shrine. Fushimi Inari Shrine sprawls over a mountain south of Kyoto city. It's a short ride from Kyoto Station, and if you have the JR Rail Pass, the journey will be free. I climbed to the top of the mountain where the most sacred part of the complex is, but many people just go to a path at the beginning of the shrine. The path has many red tori, one right next to each other, creating a tunnel effect.

I think's it's worth it to get to the top of Fushimi Inari, however. You have the opportunity to appreciate the natural beauty of a mostly undisturbed forest and you can glimpse one of the most mysterious parts of Kyoto. There's waterfalls, ponds, gravestones... When I walked up it, it was lightly raining and the entire forest was filled with mist.

The foxes are messengers of the sun goddess, Amaterasu. Inari shrines are covered in fox statues that act as guardians.

As for charms, people come to Fushimi Inari to pray for success in business, and many shrines reflect that. The red tori gates that fill the site are dedicated to companies that have purchased them. The massive tori gates are expensive. Fortunately, most can afford a simple fox omamori, like the one below:

Torii tunnels cover the mountain Fushimi Inari occupies. 

One of the many regal fox statues

Visitors buy fox-themed omamori

Many visitors choose to pray before starting their climb through the red tori gates by ringing the bells, clapping their hands, and making small monetary offerings.