Fushimi Inari-taisha

Fushimi Inari-taisha (Japanese: 伏見稲荷大社) is the head shrine of the kami Inari, located in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. The shrine sits at the base of a mountain, also named Inari, which is 233 metres (764 ft) above sea level, and includes trails up the mountain to many smaller shrines which span 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) and take approximately 2 hours to walk up. It is unclear whether the mountain's name, Inariyama, or the shrine's name came first.

The shrine was formally founded in 711 CE by the Hata clan, an influential immigrant group from the Korean Peninsula. Inari was originally and remains primarily the kami of rice and agriculture, but merchants also worship Inari as the patron of business. Each of Fushimi Inari-taisha's roughly 10,000 torii were donated by a Japanese business, and approximately 800 of these are set in a row to form the Senbon Torii, creating the impression of a tunnel. The shrine is said to have ten thousand such gates in total that designate the entrance to the holy domain of kami and protect it against wicked forces.

Owing to the popularity of Inari's division and re-enshrinement, this shrine is said to have as many as 32,000 sub-shrines (分社 bunsha) throughout Japan.

The shrine's foundation is traditionally dated to 711 CE (the Wadō era), though its religious significance is deeply rooted in the migration of the Hata clan (秦氏, Hata-uji). The Hata were a prominent group of toraijin (immigrants from the Korean Peninsula) who settled in the Yamashiro Province during the Kofun period. Historical and genealogical records, such as the Shinsen Shōjiroku, suggest the clan migrated from the Korean kingdom of Silla or Paekche, bringing advanced continental technologies in irrigation, sericulture, and sake brewing to Japan.

According to the Yamashiro-no-kuni Fudoki, the shrine was established by Hata no Irogu (秦伊呂具). Legend states that Irogu, a wealthy landowner, shot an arrow at a mochi, which then transformed into a white bird and flew to the peak of Mount Inari; rice grew where the bird landed, leading Irogu to enshrine the deity there. The Hata clan’s technical expertise in agriculture and their close ties to the Imperial Court allowed the Inari deity to transition from a private clan tutelary (ujigami) to a major national protector of the harvest and the state.

The shrine gained imperial patronage during the early Heian period. In 965, Emperor Murakami decreed that messengers carry written accounts of important events to the guardian kami of Japan. These heihaku were initially presented to 16 shrines, including the Inari Shrine.

From 1871 through 1946, Fushimi Inari-taisha was officially designated one of the Kanpei-taisha (官幣大社), meaning that it stood in the first rank of government supported shrines.

Unlike most Shinto shrines, Fushimi Inari-taisha, in keeping with typical Inari shrines, has an open view of the main object of worship (a mirror).