Inari Shrine and Foxes

It is said that there are 30,000 Inari shrines in Japan.

Inari Shrine is worshipped as the deity of the rice harvest. Rice was a very important food, and the success of the harvest had a significant impact on people’s lives. That’s why the worship of Inari spread widely.

Now, it is believed to have other divine effects such as domestic safety, commercial success, and warding off evil.

In every Inari Shrine, there are fox statues. The fox is said to be a messenger for the deity. Our ancestors believed the fox was a very important animal for ensuring a good harvest because it appeared during reaping time and disappeared after the harvest.

The red tunnel of Torii gates is based on the belief that when we go through (tooru) it, our wish will go straight (tooru) to the deity.

Each gate is a donation.