Day 10: Fushimi Inari and Himeji
Good thing we didn’t waste any time falling asleep last night! As planned, today we woke up at 5am and met the morning sunshine (and ~90 degree temps) out the door at 6am sharp. We jumped on the train heading to Kyoto’s famed Fushimi Inari Shrine.
The secret to Kyoto’s clean streets revealed at 6am
The Fushimi Inari Shrine is dedicated to Inari, the god of rice. But it is better known for the picturesque trail of several thousand vermillion red torii gates that head up from behind the Shrine to the top of Mount Inari (233m). It is very popular with the Instagram crowd. As such, the shrine can get really crowded after 8am. Per Lily’s suggestion and TikTok wisdom, we agreed the early morning start was the best way to go.
Contemplating the Fushimi Inari Shrine map
Twende!
There were already a few people at the shrine when we arrived around 7am, but the crowd was quite manageable. Melanie and Lily crushed the Instagram photos.
Happiness incoming!
Each torii gate and other stone markers have writing on them, but the markings are not ancient wisdom or prayers. It’s company names from the corporations that donated the gates hoping to get good fortune in return. A small gate goes for about 400,000 Yen, and you might have to shell out over 1,000,000 Yen for a big one.
Torii Gates in the morning sun Part 1
Torii Gates in the morning sun Part 2
Amid the gates are many smaller sub-shrines with statues of foxes (aka. kitsune) in various poses. Foxes were the messengers for the god Inari. The often have stuff in their mouths, such as balls, diamonds, keys (to rice granaries), etc. Some even look like they are wearing bibs in preparation for a fancy meal.
Very foxy dinner guest
It was never our plan (depending on who you ask) to hike all the way to the top of Mount Inari. The heat and the growing crowds were a convincing argument. So, after about an hour-and-a-half, we headed back down the Senbon Torii back to the train station.
Looks like a fan-tastic point to head back
The day’s next mission was a side quest to go see Himeji Castle, which is located a 40-minute bullet train ride to the west of Kyoto… bento boxes, cold brew coffees, and air conditioning incoming!
However, Cordwood was more intrigued by a one-day Kyoto Temple walking tour itinerary that Don — our bike tour guide — mentioned a couple days ago (clearly somebody doesn’t have the Himeji Castle lego set waiting for them back home). So, team Castle rode the rails to Himeji, and Cordwood set off for a Kyoto Temple greatest hits adventure.
To Himeji Castle!
Upon our arrival in Himeji, we opted to take the bus to the castle instead of walking the 20 minutes to save some energy and stay out of the sun. The entrance took us very quickly to the main keep of the castle, where visitors are still able to go inside.
Easy to find this city’s main attraction
Walking up to the Castle entrance
Built in 1333, the castle grounds featured dead ends, maze-like paths, and lots of defensive flourishes. It was built on a hill for ideal position. The main keep was used mostly for weapons and armor storage. They did a good job of looking scary and deterring enemies because they never came under attack.
Inside the main keep, we climbed up stairs from the basement, all the way to the top (6th floor). Although the interior was spartan, there were informational plaques describing the architecture, armor, and weapons one would find inside the castle. The technique of replacing knots in the wood with shaped inlays was evident in several locations.
I think I get a free lollipop now
The wooden-based structure relies on two main pillars originating in the basement and extending all the way up to support the top floor. When we got to the top, we took some time to admire the view before coming back down and exiting the keep.
Massive East and West pillars holding up top floor
Braving the mid-day heat at Himeji
Also known as White Heron Castle
Shachihoko varieties at Himeji (mythical tiger-headed fish)
Himeji from Sangoku Moat
Himeji has a cute mascot featuring a white marshmallow-ish thing with the castle as a hat. Infinitely cuter than the moon crossing bridge. We had free 1,000 yen coupons for buying the castle tickets online, so… free marshmallow mascot magnet! (Turns out the mascot’s name is Shiromaruhime — “Shiro” means castle, “Maru” means circle, and “Hime” means princess.)
If you want to head back to the city ninja-turtle style
We walked back towards the train station, stopping at a definite hole-in-the-wall-style ramen restaurant on the way. We needed to eat at a “real” ramen place before departing Japan, as Lily noted. This place only had six counter seats. We arrived about 30 minutes after it opened, and one guy was leaving at the same time our party of six rolled up. We took this perfect timing as a good sign.
Amazing ramen place
Chop Suey ramen is up
We chatted with the owner/chef/server as he prepared our dumplings and ramen. Turns out he likes the Arizona Diamondbacks and jazz. He is from Tokyo, but moved here about 20 years ago because his wife’s family is from Himeji, hence the fortuitous reason we are in his restaurant today. When we left, we saw that he had put out a “closed for private party sign” on our arrival, which explains why no one else even attempted to come in and find the zero additional seats available for lunch.
We closed the place down for our private event
Meanwhile, Cordwood’s temple tour has progressed to physical challenges!
We finished walking to the Himeji train station and purchased our tickets back to Kyoto. On our arrival, we figured the best way to spend the rest of our yen was a good Japanese kitchen knife. We dialed up some reddit suggestions and found our target. Lily and Mel joined for moral support. Our sales guy was super helpful and patient with all of our questions as we narrowed down our selection.
Red, Japanese-style, and Black handled options (Black 18cm wins)
We returned to the hotel and hung out in the Cordina lounge for a bit, reviewing how many of the “Let’s Go! To Japan” cards we accomplished in the past ten days. We then ordered an excellent sushi tray for dinner and polished off all the complimentary beverages (delicious Yuzu Shandy beers, in particular) stocked in the Cordina suite fridge while catching up on the Nagoya Sumo Championship.
After dinner, Cordwood guided us (sans Jo, who stayed behind to pack n’ chill) to a nearby portion of his Kyoto Temple walking tour, featuring the Yasaka Shrine and the Yasaka Pagoda. Funny enough, this area was only a few blocks from the knife store we visited a few hours earlier, but had no idea what else was nearby.
The actual Yasaka Shrine
Hokan-ji Temple (aka. the Yasaka Pagoda)
Winding down for the night, we finished up packing — strategically collapsing and stuffing our bags with original luggage items and the newly acquired souvenirs, shoes, kitchen tools, etc. We reviewed our transportation plans to return to Haneda Airport in Tokyo. We’ll figure out what to do with our extra time after tomorrow’s 10am checkout.
