Arriving at Fushimi Inari-taisha

We arrived in Kyoto after dark, but were filled with energy and wanting to explore. Luckily the Fushimi Inari-taisha is open 24 hours, so we headed to the shrine after dinner. Fushimi Inari-taisha is the head shrine of the kami Inari. A kami is a spirit worshipped in the Shinto religion, like a god. Inari is the kami of harvest and business – in fact each red torii was donated by a Japanese business.

Fushimi Inari-taisha is so magical at night. I think we only saw about 4 people while we were there, so most of the time we were in this huge, beautiful shrine by ourselves. The shrine is gigantic. If you think of Kyoto, Fushimi Inari-taisha is really iconic because of the bright red toriis – what you might not know is that it will take you about 2 hours to walk through all of them! Luckily there are many points where you can turn back if you don’t have the time or energy.

Approaching the main gate

As a holy site, you first need to cleanse yourself

Step by step directions (don’t forget to read right to left!)

The famous red torii