Japan Trip: Day 6 Kyoto (Fushimi- Inari) part 1

Early morning at the ryokan to have a quick breakfast. Sakura Ryokan has a very nice lobby area where breakfast is served (at additional costs) and there are computers with free Internet access and if you have your own computer, you can as well connect from you room. They got WiFi!!! and we didn't know...hahahaha, there's even English newspapers and books about Japan and Kyoto..

The ryokan is popular with Westerners because the staff and owners are extremely proficient in English and helpful in giving directions and making recommendations. The Sakura Kaede also sells the all important one day bus pass at 500 J yen, since in Kyoto, travelling around is best done by bus and NOT trains.





One Day Bus Pass




And check out the surroundings... nice neighborhood. A 10-15 minute walk from the massive JR Kyoto Station (depending on how fast you walk), the Sakura Ryokan is located along a very quiet street lined with traditional low rise buildings.  We are ready to take Kyoto....

Sakura Kaede

Sakura Kaede's neighborhood

Kyoto, the Ancient Capital of Japan, is one of the must-go cities in Japan. Packed with countless world heritage temples, shrines and castles.


First stop, Fushimi-Inari....



How to get to Fushimi-Inari



Fushimi-Inari


Fushimi Inari Shrine is located just outside JR Inari Station, the second station from Kyoto Station along the JR Nara Line (5 minutes, 140 yen one way from Kyoto Station, not served by rapid trains but we are not paying coz we have the JR pass). The shrine can also be reached in a short walk from Fushimi Inari Station along the Keihan Main Line.

Fushimi Inari is an important Shinto shrine in southern Kyoto. It is famous for its thousands of vermilion torii gates, which straddle a network of trails behind its main buildings. The trails lead into the wooded forest of the sacred Mount Inari, which stands at 233 meters and belongs to the shrine grounds. It  is the most important of several thousands of shrines dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice. Foxes are thought to be Inari's messengers, resulting in many fox statues across the shrine grounds.

Fushimi-Inari

Fox Statue/Inari's messenger

While the primary reason most foreign visitors come to Fushimi Inari Shrine is to explore the mountain trails, the shrine buildings themselves are also attractive and worth a visit. At the shrine's entrance stands the Romon Gate, which was donated in 1589 by the famous leader Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Behind stands the shrine's main building (Honden) and various auxiliary buildings.

Romon Gate and The Honden Building

At the very back of the shrine's main grounds is the entrance to the torii gate covered hiking trail, which starts with two dense, parallel rows of gates called Senbon Torii ("thousands of torii gates"). The torii gates along the entire trail are donations by individuals and companies, and you will find the donator's name and the date of the donation inscribed on the back of each gate. The cost starts around 400,000 yen for a small sized gate and increases to over one million yen for a large gate.


I remember one movie was shoot on this location, The Memoirs of a Geisha starring Ziyi Zhang, Michelle Yeoh, Gong Li and Ken Watanabe. Other locations were in Gion and Haian Shrine.

Torii Gates

The hike to the summit of the mountain and back takes about 2-3 hours, however we are not that of a hiker, so we turn back and head for our next destination.... We'll cut our day 6 here. And continue our day # 6 adventure on the next blog...  wait for part 2 of Japan trip Day #6....