Inari pilgrimage
My Pilgrimage to the Fushimi Inari-Taisha
Shrine
By mid-afternoon it was raining at a pretty good
clip, so I changed my plans and headed down to Sanjusangen-do temple. This is a
pretty famous one with 1000 statues of the 1000 armed Kannon (Buddhist goddess
of mercy.) Apparently in 1164 someone got the idea that the world was about to
end and built this amazing place. I was there last in '95, and I hope it'll
still be there 900 years hence. Unfortunately, no photos are allowed, so all I
could manage was this one of the
rain.
With Sanjusan out of the way, it was time to make a food pilgrimage. The Fushimi-Inari-Taisha Shrine was just a short train ride away, and I had to do it. Now, you can say that there are 30,000 Inari shrines in Japan, and you'd be right, but this is the big daddy of them all. Inari are the sweet fried tofu skins that wrap the riceballs in my favorite Japanese food. Inari also has something to do with the fox deity (kitsune) who has something to do with grain and cereal and prosperity or good harvest. So I just had to go pay respects, not knowing at all what I might find.
Right away, the going got good. Here's my main man--the cinnamon tile-cracker maker. These are a special treat I only see in Kyoto and it's only my absolute favorite thing in Kyoto. He pours the bater onto these hot irons which shape the thin curve cookies. There are lots of other shapes hanging around him. The product is down below. Of course I bought some and ate them right there in front of them so I could give him a big smile and an "Oishi desu!" (its' delicious!)
The path to the shrine is lined with souvenir shope and little tea house restaurants. I saw the food below (INARI!) and knew I was getting close.
More souvenirs.
The shrine was a very short walk uphill. It was just about 1/2 hour before sunset and still raining steadily.
Here's the fox guarding the gate. This icon appears many times.
Now, here's the cool part. The walk up starts with this big torii (gate),
then another torii
then hundreds of smaller torii!
There are long paths completely lined with these spaced less than a foot apart. When you're walking downhill you see that each one has carved inscriptions in big kanji.
All shrines have wooden palettes you can write your wishes on and have them burned as offerings. This is the first time I've seen them in the fox shape, and of course it wasn't lost on me that one of them had my name written on it.
People pay to get their fortunes on a strip of paper and then tie the strips to wires.
As it got dark I walked back down to the train past all of the stores simultaneously closing (5:10 ish).
I did manage to find one little restaurant still open. I had a hot cup of tea and 3 yummy hand-rolled inari (some are clearly machine made, but not these) while the proprietor and his aged mother sat glued to the soap opera on the tiny TV in the place. He smoked and she sat silently. I ate my inari and read. In the U.S., inari are filled with plan rice. Here in Japan there are always black sesame seeds or little strips of juicy vegetables or something in addition. When you buy them on the street, the rice is pre-soaked in soy.
It wasn't until I got back to the train station that I noticed the clever fox motif!
With Sanjusan out of the way, it was time to make a food pilgrimage. The Fushimi-Inari-Taisha Shrine was just a short train ride away, and I had to do it. Now, you can say that there are 30,000 Inari shrines in Japan, and you'd be right, but this is the big daddy of them all. Inari are the sweet fried tofu skins that wrap the riceballs in my favorite Japanese food. Inari also has something to do with the fox deity (kitsune) who has something to do with grain and cereal and prosperity or good harvest. So I just had to go pay respects, not knowing at all what I might find.
Right away, the going got good. Here's my main man--the cinnamon tile-cracker maker. These are a special treat I only see in Kyoto and it's only my absolute favorite thing in Kyoto. He pours the bater onto these hot irons which shape the thin curve cookies. There are lots of other shapes hanging around him. The product is down below. Of course I bought some and ate them right there in front of them so I could give him a big smile and an "Oishi desu!" (its' delicious!)
The path to the shrine is lined with souvenir shope and little tea house restaurants. I saw the food below (INARI!) and knew I was getting close.
More souvenirs.
The shrine was a very short walk uphill. It was just about 1/2 hour before sunset and still raining steadily.
Here's the fox guarding the gate. This icon appears many times.
Now, here's the cool part. The walk up starts with this big torii (gate),
then another torii
then hundreds of smaller torii!
There are long paths completely lined with these spaced less than a foot apart. When you're walking downhill you see that each one has carved inscriptions in big kanji.
All shrines have wooden palettes you can write your wishes on and have them burned as offerings. This is the first time I've seen them in the fox shape, and of course it wasn't lost on me that one of them had my name written on it.
People pay to get their fortunes on a strip of paper and then tie the strips to wires.
As it got dark I walked back down to the train past all of the stores simultaneously closing (5:10 ish).
I did manage to find one little restaurant still open. I had a hot cup of tea and 3 yummy hand-rolled inari (some are clearly machine made, but not these) while the proprietor and his aged mother sat glued to the soap opera on the tiny TV in the place. He smoked and she sat silently. I ate my inari and read. In the U.S., inari are filled with plan rice. Here in Japan there are always black sesame seeds or little strips of juicy vegetables or something in addition. When you buy them on the street, the rice is pre-soaked in soy.
It wasn't until I got back to the train station that I noticed the clever fox motif!
Posted: Sun - October 31, 2004 at 09:34 AM
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Published On: Oct 31, 2004 09:42 AM
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Published On: Oct 31, 2004 09:42 AM