Our morning started as most mornings do: gather at 9:00AM and then make our way to the subway for a train ride. Today, we hopped on the Tozai line at Higashiyama Station, headed to SSAnjo Station, changed trains to the Keihan line toward Fushimi.
The ride took only about 15 minutes. We spilled out of the train into huge crowds headed up the hill toward the temples and shrines that make up the Fushimi Inari Taisha area. We walked past shops, street food vendors, and then into the temple complex.
It was hard to make our way through the many people and school groups that crowded the fortune telling station, the charms, and a whole variety of places to pray and offer small contributions to the shrine. We passed it all and stood in from of the entrance to the Torii gates and the 10,000 ways to remove negative emotions and thoughts.
We started the hike with thousands that quickly dwindled to 100s and then to 10s and finally into a solo hike for each person. Seriously, within about 15 minutes you’re mostly walking alone on the mountain.
The origins of the shrine go back into the distant past to about 711 CE. The area inshrined three kami who brought good harvests to the area. In about 942, the shrine was established in a similar form to the present day torii gates you see across the mountain.
So, our pilgrimage began in the very warm, high humidity day on this Friday. We walked over the mountain and took around two hours to casually walk the path and make our way back to the shrines at the beginning of the path. The town of Fushimi offers many choices for snacks, food, and crafts. The highlight, however, are the street food vendors including yakitori, grilled meats, Hiroshima-yaki, and a variety of fruit juices, ice cream, and the like.
We finished the adventure and made our way back to Kyoto for an evening of Karaoke! More to come on THAT silliness.
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