Kyoto, touristic mega town! And this shrine draws even more people. While I work on my blog admin, I realised that I haven’t written anything about Kyoto besides my maiko experience. This place is so well covered anyways. How about I just talk about the dirty stuff.
Do not be fooled by those beautiful epic spacious, peaceful photos. The movie Memoir of Geisha has immortalised this place. The reality is that there are literately 1000 people next to you at any given time attempting to replicate the same shot. It is anything but tranquil.
The infamous endless rows of Tori, well, is actually expensive marketing / prayers from businesses. Local individuals or businesses pay for these tori. The prices are CRAZY. A tiny tori (like a desk top size) starts at JPY 175,000. These large ones? JPY708,000 and upwards. Prices varies depending on the positions. The ones close to the temple or the entrance? Those are priced well beyond JPY 1,000,000. They have a price list on display. You just need to keep your eyes open to spot this lucrative board 😉
Tips:
- If you have arachnophobia, try not to look up or between the tori.
- Besides people, there’s TONS of mosquitoes okay. Unless you visit when it is snowing, spray yourself with industrial strength mosquito repellent. Those mosquito spray from the local Japanese convenient store just won’t cut it.
- Do not visit on 1st January. Tons of locals and foreigners, even more crazy than normal. If you do want to see this crowd, visit at your own risk.
- There’re people everywhere. The higher up you go, the less people.
- Be prepared to wait for your clean shot. I do mean WAIT.
- Visit it when it is about to close to avoid the crowds 😉
Fushimi Inari-taisha (Shrine), Kyoto
伏見稲荷大社
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Photos are from several trips. I do regret not taking the 1000 people shot though. Those photos are way more interesting.
