Welcome to Ai's travel guide. Today, we will take you to the Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine, which is popular among foreign tourists and famous for its thousand torii gates. Let's walk with me through the grounds of Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine, experience its beauty, and receive God's blessings with me.

   Fushimi Inari Taisha, affectionately called as "Oinari-san," is a historic shrine built in the 8th century and known for its vermilion thousand torii gates. It is said that there are approximately 10,000 torii gates at Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine, and some of them are called 'thousand torii gates', forming two tunnels of torii gates along the approach. The torii gate, which is the symbol of the shrine, has a bright vermilion color that is said to protect against evil spirits and prevent enemies and other unclean things from entering the shrine. At Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine, the number of torii gates has increased so much because since the Edo period, there has been a custom of dedicating torii gates to pray for wishes to come true or as a token of gratitude. Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine is illuminated at certain times from autumn to winter. As you can see in the background, the vermilion tower gates and torii gates shine beautifully when lit up, making them perfect for Instagram. If you would like to see the illuminations, please check the date and time before heading out.

Let's continue the explanation while wearing a kimono and walking around the grounds of Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine. Inari Shrine, which prayed for a rich harvest, is the most familiar shrine for the Japanese people, who are agricultural people, and it is said that there are more than 30,000 shrines nationwide. Fushimi Inari Taisha is the main shrine among these shrines, and it is said that in addition to a rich harvest, there are other blessings such as prosperous business, prosperity for descendants, family safety, and safe childbirth. The first building you'll see at Fushimi Inari Taisha is the vermillion tower gate. This tower gate, designated as a national important cultural property, is said to have been built by General Hideyoshi Toyotomi as a thank you for curing his mother's illness. Foxes, messengers of the gods, are enshrined on both sides of the tower gate. At Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine, there are statues of fox holding four kinds of treasures: a jewel ball representing the soul of God, a key to the treasury, a scroll containing God's blessings, and an ear of rice representing a bountiful harvest. So please look for them.

The grounds of Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine are large, approximately 870,000 square meters, and there are "Yashiro" with various blessings in various places, so it is a good idea to go on a "mountain tour" of about 4 km and enjoy the blessings. In the inner shrine beyond the thousand Torii gate, there is an ``Omokaru Stone'', heavy and light stone. It is said that if you make a wish in front of a stone and pick it up, if you feel that it is lighter than you expected, your wish will come true easily, but if it feels heavier then you will need to make more effort to make your wish come true. It would be a good idea to measure the difficulty of making your wish come true. If you go up the mountain through the thousand Torii gates, you will find 'Yotsutsuji', a plaza overlooking the city of Kyoto. There is also a teahouse here, so it would be a good idea to take a break.

   Thank you for watching until the end. Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine is free to visit and is open 24 hours a day, so be sure to include it in your Kyoto travel plans. We look forward to hearing your opinions and comments regarding Fushimi Inari Taisha. I have posted a map of Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine and related websites in the description section, so please refer to it. It would be very encouraging if you gave us a high rating and subscribed to the channel. See you soon. Well then, goodbye!