Fushimi Inari-taisha

I've been going on many little trips and I figured I should probably start posting about the ones that are worth mentioning, for the people who don't see the pictures on Facebook.

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About two weeks ago I went to the Fushimi Inari-taisha (伏見稲荷大社). It's a shinto shrine in Kyoto and I thought the whole area was breathtaking!

It consists of many little paths through a series of gates or torii (鳥居). When the sunlight hits the structure everything just becomes even more beautiful, I love it!

 

 

The torii have writing on them. These are not meaningful poems or anything; just the names of the sponsors of the shrine. There's all sorts of big company names on there. Still looks pretty though!

The whole thing is quite a hike. The goal is to walk all the way to the top of the paths, where the actual main shrine is located. I think it took us over two hours to go all the way to the top and back down again.

I found the round to the top prettier than the actual shrine itself.

 I honestly don't really know what these things are. They seem like small spare Torii.

In any case, if anyone is planning on coming to Kyoto, I definitely recommend seeing this place! It almost has a magical feel to it.