Kitsune Ema

Ema 「絵馬」 are small, wooden plaques that Shinto worshipers write their prayers or wishes on and hang in the temple grounds. At Fushimi-Inari, there are, of course, Kitsune Ema!

I love taking pictures of ema, because they tend to be so colorful and really unique to the region or shrine that they're at - different shapes and designs, too, depending on the festival or time of year! I've seen everything from sakura shaped ones, to chrysanthemum flowers, to koi fish, now kitsune, Kumamon or various city/prefecture mascots, castles... it goes on and on! And that's not even including the different things printed on the traditional shaped plaques - one's for whatever animal it is a year of (this year is horse, fyi), holiday, festival, etc, etc. Yeah. They're awesome, and I love looking at them, even if I can't read what people have written

::::: 伏見稲荷大社に関する情報 :::::

Fushimi Inari Taisha is the head shrine of Inari, located in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto. The shrine sits at the base of a mountain also named Inari.

The earliest structures were built in 711 on the mountainside, but the shrine was relcoated in 816. The main shrine structure was built in 1499. At the bottom of the hill are the main gate and the main shrine. Behind those is the inner shrine, reached by a path lined with thousands of torii.

Kitsune (foxes) are regarded as the messengers of Inari, and often found in Inari shrines. They are usually found in pairs - one mail, and one female. They hold a symbolic item in their mouths or beneath a front paw - most often a jewel, a key, a sheaf of rice, a scroll, or a fox cub.

::::: 新年の休暇 :::::

Over our new years break, we were able to get to finally go on our first real trip in Japan. Of course we went to Kyoto - it is the only place I really cared to see, and I cannot wait for any chance to return. It is beautiful, and so ridiculously full of inspiration to me it's almost overwhelming. It was a whirlwind tour, however, and we hit every major temple and shrine we could. We started right off the Shinkansen and hopped another train to Fushimi, to visit the Fushimi-Inari shrine (the one with the hundred of red tori gates lining the path to the main temple). Since it was a major holiday (new years) it was packed and then some, but still amazing none the less, even with the crush of people.

After that, we hit places such as Toji Temple, the Imperial Palace (which was sadly closed over the holiday), Kiyomizudera, Kinkakuji, and a ton of other temples and shrines that we just wandered into. While all of them were very busy because of the holiday, it was such a wonderful experience that I hope we get to see again (maybe not in the middle of winter next time!). We didn't get to spot any geisha or maiko, but Kyoto was wonderful regardless. We finished up our trip with a visit to Osaka before our flight back to Fukuoka, and got to see Osaka Castle!

Tumblr : Instagram : Flickr

Fushimi-Inari Taisha 「伏見稲荷大社」 : January 2, 2014
Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan
       伏見区　　 京都　　　日本