Fushimi Inari

Me, Hanae, and Mo

Today I went with Moe and her friend Hanae to see Fushimi Inari, one of the most famous temples in all of Japan. Fushimi Inari is the main temple of the fox god who is also in charge of the harvest. It is famous for its many tori (red beam gates) and I have been waiting for about six years to visit it. It was amazing and full of foxes.

The starting gates of Fushimi Inari

The first thing we saw when we got off the train, was a sign welcoming us to Fushimi Inari. Of course it was both red and had foxes on it.

 

Fushimi Inari is on a mountain, and the very top of the mountain is where the main shrine is (I think). There are many other shrines on the way up, but—hey!—I walked up a mountain to pray to a fox god! Life is good.

The mountain was so quiet, and with the morning mist rising, it felt like I was in another realm. Despite the atrocious amount of steps (and steepness) required for my mountain trek, I really had an enjoyable time. Walking through the forest, which seemed to have an aura of purity and nature, was an awe-inspiring experience. Coming across random groves of shrines was fun as well. The sheer amount of gorgeousness and mystique in one place is almost enough to bowl you over. I was in my element and ever-so-happy.

One of the many waystations along the trek upward

There was this awesome tree, devoted to a certain god, which if you stood close enough, you could see your breath. I have no idea what is behind this phenomena, but it was around 60 degrees or more, but I could see my breath like I was waiting for the bus in high school!

 The company was fun, the scenery was breathtaking, and my dream has been achieved. I also have an adorable fox plushie to cuddle forevermore. And I got to try egg udon.

Yum. An interesting fact to note is that all chopsticks made in Japan will have the hiragana おてもと on them. According to Wikipedia, "otemoto (おてもと) or o-temoto, [is] a phrase commonly printed on the wrappers of disposable chopsticks. O is honorific and temoto was euphemistic jargon invented by the clique of the ladies in attendance at the imperial court meaning that which is within your reach. More fundamentally, te means hand and moto is related to the kyo of kyoka (permission)^."

I also got to experience my first taiyaki, which is a fried biscuit-like crispy thing that is stuffed (traditionally) with red bean paste. It was all that I ever wanted to experience, and more, but I think I'll stick to the slightly saltier dorayaki. The way you tell if something is taiyaki is by how it is shaped. If it's shaped like a fish, it's taiyaki.

Now here's a fish I can gladly eat!