In Japanese Shinto, the god/dess Inari is the maintainer of rice and agriculture, fertility and industry and is, unsurprisingly, one of the main deities. We went visiting Inari’s main shrine in Kyoto; the Fushimi Inari-taisha, which is basically a path of thousands of red torii gates that make a path up a forest-clad mountain (the torii mark the entrance to a sacred place). Along the way you find several sub-shrines, often intertwined so you can enter and walk around, where people put their own small torii gates and pray for good fortune. You can also admire the stately fox statues that guard the shrines – the fox (kitsune) is the messenger of Inari, and sometimes even the embodiment of Inari her/himself, and is highly respected.
Walking through this beautiful sanctum, with its hundreds and hundreds of torii surrounding us, was a thrilling, almost mystical, experience. The creeping darkness of dusk accompanied by the wind whistling in the leaves overhead as we passed gate after gate after gate, the unknown meaning of painted words floating by, made it feel like we were passing through another realm; ancient, unknown to us but with a symbolism so simple and beautiful that anyone could grasp it and make it their own.
On our way back from the mountaintop, we ended up taking a path that led us away from the toriis and through the forest. At first the woods were mostly pine, but as we got deeper we found ourselves surrounded by enormous bamboo trees, leaning and creaking as they moved with the wind. Bamboo makes movements and sounds unlike any forest I’ve ever been to; the trees are tall and thin and carry leaves only at the top, and sudden winds will make them bustle and sway, bathing the path in sunlight for a few seconds, just to close up again in a moment and return the darkness that soon becomes eerie with the whispering of leaves..
I think Shinto is a fascinating religion. Humility, respect and joy before nature are its stones of foundation, and that people are able to keep true to this (in at least some senses) in this world of controlling everything seems impressive to me. But then, like I said, it has a really beautiful symbolism, and it’s easy to fall into place with the rites as they are so enjoyable.
Note: As our camera battery died this day, all images in this post are borrowed.