kyoto: fushimi no inari

 

 

akemashite omedetou goziamasu -- happy new year!

 

 

this shrine (711AD) is just SE of Kyoto and easily accessible by train. inari is a god of rice, sake and prosperity. the kyoto suburb of fushimi and shrine area is a very atmospheric place to visit around sunset -- there are 10,000 torii gates  :-o all put up by local businesses.

 

also, very busy at new years celebrations as businesspeople are seeking blessings for their enterprises!

 

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/japan/kyoto-fushimi-inari

 

note: this thread is from summertime and is going backwards from the end of the night in fushimi to the start in kyoto -- why not?! enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

splits off and goes on and on!

 

 

 

 

 

 

the foxy inari kitsune fox -- inari’s messenger -- the key in his mouth is to the rice granary

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inari_(mythology)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

mischievous tanuki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanuki

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fushimi_Inari_Station

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

keihan main line runs N-S along the kamo river on the eastside of Kyoto

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiyomizu-Goj%C5%8D_Station

 

 

*** yoi otoshi o --  i  wish u all a happy new year -- and may all yr biz be prosperous in 2011! ***

 

 

 

 

 

This was interesting.  That shrine isnt the usual thing you see in the architecture books, which emphasise a sort of purist aestehetic (like Ise and Katsura).  This is more elaborate.

 

Still for some reason I like the way the Japanese do things.  There's a certain style or attention to detail (you can see it with the paper items at the shrine), and in general...

 

...also, thanks for those generic "city scene" pix. Though they say the Japanese economy is weak they look fairly prosperous. The density is impressive too.  It's almost as if one of those Latin American favelas or barrios was fixed-up and rebuilt more permanent, with paved streets and legitmate utilities and permanant buildings.  Same kind of density, it seems.

 

Also interesting to see that the train station as the message board in English, with english characters ...is this pretty common? 

jefferey yeah the shrine or shines at fushimi inari really arent the thing there, its more about wandering around and up the mountain under all those torii gates and i guess contemplating and praying. there are a lot of walks like that around kyoto, some of which i'll post threads on eventually.

 

as i understand it since the economic crash japan has set their economy toward maintaining employment over increasing gnp. they firmly see stagnation and a fuller workforce as a better goal than economic growth and unemployment. bonus for the consumer is there is a ton of customer assistance everywhere and they take it very seriously.

 

good analogy with latin america except i'd say that even tho some of the streetscapes resemble latin america in some ways, very unlike latin america japan is spotless. to the point they dont even have trash recepticles, you are expected to carry your small trash and recycle on your own!

 

as for transit thats a funny thing because i was so petrified everything would be in japanese it made me take japanese langauage lessons (which i got hooked on)! turns out everything is written in a mix of four alphabets inclduing "romanji" or english lettering and that yes most train stations have romanji and most lines have some english announcements, but...not all of them, take for example the other one above:

you would have to know that reads: fu-shi-mi-i-na-ri. fushimi inari! keeps you on your toes!  :laugh: