Day 11: Fushimi Inari-taisha and Kyoto-eki

Lots of pictures today! I climbed (the stairs of) a mountain! I climbed Inari mountain to be specific, named after the Shinto kami of foxes, fertility, rice, tea, osake, success and business. Fushimi Inari-taisha is one of the most popular shrines in Japan, largely due to Inari's connection to business. All of the orange gates (torii) you see have been bought by businesses in hopes that it will bring them good luck (and they aren't cheap). It was moved to its current location in 816 at the request of Kukai the super monk who actually headed up the construction of To-ji (see my last post) as well! side note: Go read up on Kukai, he also developed or at least popularized the use of kana in Japan and was extremely influential in his time. The main shrine was built in 1499.

Kitsune, one of Inari's messengers. Looks to be taking on the role of a komainu (fu dog) here.

Wishes

Pine on the left, bamboo on the right.

More expensive wishes.

Kyoto as seen from above 

This is the summit! I was ready for a nap. It didn't take you long to scroll here but it took me about two hours to climb the mountain.

This random cat was hanging out at one of the shrines. I followed it into around a corner into a dead end and it disappeared. Kind of spooky.

Remember that huge pagoda at To-ji? There it is. Nature is unimpressed by our puny structures.

Another part of Kyoto Station. These stairs run from the 5th floor up to the 11th. It's all womens clothes from 1-8, then bedding/housewares on 9, omiyage and stationery on 10, and restaurants on 11. 10 actually includes a huge area that's shaped like Japan, and depending on which restaurant you go to you are offered regional ramen from that area. Pretty neat.