Torii Shrine Gates (Fushimi Inari-taisha) - KYOTO, JAPAN

 

Fushimi Inari-taisha is the head shrine of the kami Inari (spirits that are venerated in the religion of Shinto). The shrine is located in Fushimi-ku of Kyoto, Japan and it sits at the base of a mountain also named Inari, which is 233 metres (764 ft) above sea level, and includes trails up the mountain to many smaller shrines which span 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) and take approximately 2 hours to walk up.

Fushimi Inari-taisha is the most important of several thousands of shrines dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice and agriculture, but merchants and manufacturers also worship Inari as the patron of business. 

It is famed for its variety of shrines and vermilion torii shrine gates, with thousands of them winding their way up the sacred Mountain Inari. The shrine was founded in 711 making it one of Kyoto's oldest and most historic landmarks.

Each of the famous Torii Shrine Gates has been donated by an individual of a Japanese business in the hope of receiving good luck and fortune. The name of the donor is inscribed in black ink on the back of each gate. The cost starts around 400,000 yen for a small sized gate and increases to over one million yen for a large gate.