Fushimi Inari Taisha is one of the most famous and widely visited Shinto Shrines in Kyōto and indeed the whole of Japan. It attracts thousands of visitors every day who come to see it’s many thousands of closely spaced, bright orange Torii gates that wind their way along the path and up the mountain towards the inner sanctuary.
Over the years, these have been donated by businesses from all over the country to pray for success. This is because Inari, the patron deity of the temple, is a goddess of business, as well as agriculture and rice.
She is also the patron of kitsune, or foxes, who act as her guardians and messengers and this explains the hundreds of fox statues around the shrine grounds, as well as the famous Fox Fountain.
