I admit that it was “Memoirs of a Geisha” (both the book and the film adaptation) that drew me to Kyoto, especially the scenes of Gion (previously blogged here) and of Sayuri running through the orange torii gates of this Shinto shrine.

The area is also adorned with statues of foxes carrying keys to the rice granary. Fascinating enough, inari sushi (my absolute favourite!) and kitsune udon originated from this shrine.

It took us about 15 minutes from the Inari Station to walk up to the two parallel rows of gates called Senbon Torii (“thousands of torii gates”), and what a magnificent view it was.
Torii gates were donated by businessmen, with their names and date of the donations carved into the gates.











Not sure if this is a mailbox, but isn’t it adorable?