• Japan ‘25
    A leaping fox ushers us in to the shrine
    The first gate - the climb will occasionally wipe our smiles awayThe main shrine with lots of people2The map of the pilgrims' wayWe make a start - look at the handsome foxOne stern chap at the entranceMagnificent foxEven sterner chap on the other side - Behave or else, he is saying!Next level ...2nd gate, all's wellWe start to lose countUp and upThen the people start to thin. Sometimes going up you have to go down. There's a moral there perhapsA staging point: the view of Kyoto gets biggerThe mountain greenery is fragrant and coolingLooking back.Looking up!Natty costume eh?Periodic water stations for washing your handsAt the end a nurturing imageA lovely little cafeRespite on the canalThe best açai bowl I've ever had!A really truly Japanese sushi restaurant1

    When one gate is barely enough

    October 3 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Climbing Mt Inari
    As the sign read when we entered the grounds of this world famous place today: “The grounds of the Fushimi Inari Taisha are a sacred area that has been a space for worship for more than a millennium, ever since the shrine was founded in AD 711.” A Shinto Shrine famous for its thousands of torii gates, dedicated to Inari, the god of rice. To climb through the gates to the top of Mt Inari is a pilgrimage and results in great blessings. The gates are also decorated with many fox statues. These foxes are divine messengers who protect the prosperity of the rice harvest, often holding symbolic items in their mouths, such as a key to a rice storehouse or a gem representing the spirit of Inari. They were all dressed in some way, some with natty red capes or little hats etc.

    Always up for a good round of blessings, we decided to complete this massive climb, a circuit of approximately 5 kilometres, passing through a thousand Torii gates. Quite a few hours later we finally did, proud of ourselves but with aching feet. The way was very crowded but the higher we went the fewer people we encountered. The mountain, and probably time constraints, stopped most pilgrims from completing the circuit. We finished with a refreshing coffee and snacks in lieu of lunch in another of those small, but perfectly formed, little one person cafes that seem characteristic of Kyoto. I had the best Açai bowl ever! (Fruit has been in short supply on this trip - and I love fruit!)

    As we left the area at dusk, people were still pouring in to see the torii gates - and as our Uber driver observed, none of them Japanese. Which is sad.

    After checking in to our hotel, we rested, showered and went out to an excellent sushi bar Hanna found, called Sushi Nomusashi. I have never been to a sushi restaurant before and while I would not choose this form of eating for myself, I found a few dishes I could savour, mainly vegetarian. Graham and Johanna had an excellent meal. So I can now say that I have eaten proper sushi prepared in Japan.

    Tomorrow we bullet train to Hiroshima. We will stay there 3 nights in a hotel. As a student of history, having studied the historical controversy over the dropping of nuclear bombs in 1945, this will be especially fascinating.    Read more