Fushimi Inara Shrine

Our quest this afternoon is to find Fushimi Inara Shrine. It’s famous for its vermilion torii gates. We set off about fourish to look for it. Getting off the train it is just across the road and there were people everywhere again. Luckily the temple grounds go right up to the top of Inari Mountain and the people thin out more and more the higher up you go. Luckily because I don’t think we could handle a repeat of the Bamboo Forest.

The orange pathway trails lead into the wooded forest of Mount Inari, which stands at 233 meters and winds around the mountain if your legs hold out that is. Luckily almost a week of using the Osaka Subway has made us stair fit and after a few little rests we got to the top.

Photo opportunities around every corner, lots of shrines and small temples to see on the way up, and a couple of lovely stops to see the view. Foxes were supposed to be Inara’s messengers so there are hundreds of fox statues all along the paths.

I’d like to know how many stairs there are to the top, a hell of a lot my legs were telling me. Less and less people as we were coming down and by the time we got to the bottom again, it was almost deserted.Read more