More than one-third of Shinto shrines in Japan are dedicated to Inari - kami of fertility, rice, agriculture, foxes, industry, and worldly success. Fushimi Inari Taisha is the head shrine of Inari, located at the base of a mountain also named Inari, and includes trails up the mountain to many smaller shrines.
Merchants and manufacturers worship Inari for wealth. |
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The entrance to an Inari shrine is usually marked by one or more vermilion torii and a couple statues of kitsune representing a male and a female. These fox statues hold a symbolic item in their mouths or beneath a front paw — most often a jewel and a key, a scroll or a fox cub. Foxes (kitsune), regarded as the messengers are often adorned with red yodarekake (votive bibs).
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