Before we went to Japan, I saw a picture of these seemingly infinite rows of orange gates and I knew we had to go there.
This is at the Fushimi Inari shrine in Kyoto, dedicated to the gods of wine and sake. It’s a peaceful site with wooded paths running up the Inari mountain, and small shrines and eating stalls dotted along the way. The gates – known as torii – are behind the main shrine building. They are even more impressive in person. When you stand at the head of the gate, it winds round in a tunnel of orange sunshine. The inscriptions on the posts look like lines of prayers, but I later discovered that they are the names of the people & companies who made donations for the gates. Look out for the fox statues which guard the gates. They are the Inari messengers (… sounds very Twilight !)
~ Spotted Cow
Wandering Cows 
I’m dying to see these myself! We have a trip to Osaka/Kyoto potentially planned in the next month, and I’ll finally be able to see them! 🙂
We didn’t see much of Osaka because of time & logistics (flights), but we loved Kyoto. In fact, we loved our experience in Japan and going in winter was quite special. Have fun on your trip. I’m looking forward to reading about it.
Great picture! Makes me want to see this for myself. I pinned it so I’ll remember.
Thanks. It’s the wall of bright orange that gets to you. I’m sure it makes you feel subtly energised but you don’t realise it consciously.
Paul & I visited Fusimi Inari about 10 years ago. I thought it was great because those gates were stuck together densely. As the result, they transformed themselves to a wall. I wished if we walked all the way up to the shrine. Kyoto had too many beautiful temples to visit!😍
Indeed. We really really liked Kyoto. It was our first stop in Japan and we were feeling our way around. And we loved it !