Photo By: Elin Chow
No trip to Kyoto is complete without visiting the Fushimi Inari Taisha. This is one of the most popular sightseeing spot in Kyoto. After a quick lunch at our Kyoto Airbnb apartment, we headed out to Fushimi Inari Taisha.
The train from Kyoto Station to Inari Station is surprisingly packed, with both Japanese and foreigners heading to the same destination.
We began our walk through the tunnel vermilion Torii gates leading uphill. There were way too many people at the beginning for it to be enjoyable. It was nearly impossible to have a picture taken without having anyone else in the frame.
Each torii gates is donated by a company or organization giving thanks for their prosperity and good fortune. People who have been successful in business are said to often donate Torii gates to an Inari Shrine to express gratitude to the deity of the shrine.
You will find the donor's name and date of donation inscribed on the back of each gate. If you would like to donate, a small sized gate cost around 400,000 Yen and a large sized gate can cost over a million Yen.
The entire trail comprises of slopes and stone staircases, so it will be best to equipped yourself with comfortable walking shoes. Unfortunately, this part of the attraction is not accessible by wheelchair or stroller. People with mobility issues might find the staircases extremely challenging.
There are so much to do and see at Fushimi Inari Taisha. To sufficiently explore the attraction, I suggest you allocate at least 3 hours for this visit.
Of course, you do not have to walk all the way up. In fact, you are given the option to turn back any time you wish. All along the way, you will see multiples of small shrines and altars, some with lit candles and burnt incense as offerings.
Inside the smaller shrines, you will find stacks of miniature torii gates that were donated by people with a smaller budget.
There are vending machines everywhere in the mountains too. Just make sure you bring enough coins with you so that you can buy yourself a bottle of hot tea or cold water anytime you wish. But there are no rubbish bins anywhere in the mountains. Please bring all your rubbish with you until you see a rubbish bin. Do not throw them anywhere in the mountains!
I have no idea how long we have climbed. But we did not hike to the top of the mountain because we were running out of stamina. Furthermore, we did not sleep much during our 7 hours overnight flight to Osaka, thus we were feeling really tired.
Fushimi Inari Taisha has some beautiful autumn leaves, offering plenty of stunning photo opportunities.
Occasionally, you will also see young girls dressed in traditional Kimonos, taking photographs of each other. It was a very lovely sight!
Walking through the thousands of Torii gates gave me a sense of peacefulness and quietude. Fushimi Inari Taisha is definitely a must see destination for those visiting Kyoto. After three hours, I left Fushimi Inari Taisha with the feeling that I had not seen enough. I told myself someday, I will be back and when that happens, I will make sure I hike all the way to the top.
If you are interested to know more about our trip, you may want to check out our 7D6N Osaka - Kyoto - Nara - Kobe Trip Itinerary + Overview for the list of attractions that we had visited during our 7 days in Japan. For anyone planning your first trip to Japan but have no idea where to start, you should read my "How To Plan A Trip To Japan" post.
