It was barely 6:15 in the morning when my mom and I pulled up in a taxi at the large torii gate in front of Mt. Inari and the Fushimi Inari-taisha.
This famous Shinto shrine, one of the most important symbols of Japan, is built upon the slopes of the sacred Mount Inari just outside of Kyoto, the country's historic and cultural capital.
The shrine is dedicated to the kami Inari, the Shinto god of rice, sake, wealth, luck, tea, agriculture, industry, and general prosperity, who is said to be enshrined here. It goes without saying that Inari, who is often said to take the form of a fox, is one of Japan's most popular deities.
As we ascended the steps to the main shrine and then further up the mountain, a number of fox statues stared severely down at us.
Fushimi Inari Shrine is best known for its 10,000 torii gates and is sometimes referred to as the "Vermillion Corridor".
In the Shinto tradition, a torii is a traditional wooden gate that marks the entrance to a sacred space, typically leading into a Shinto shrine. It symbolically separates the everyday world from the sacred.
Most often painted in a shade of vermilion red with a black top beam, a torii consists of two posts topped by two horizontal crossbars. Passing through a torii represents purification and spiritual transition and is considered an act that prepares worshippers to enter a divine space.
Climbing the steps up Mount Inari, passing underneath thousands of torii gates and walking past countless Shinto sub-shrines, family graves, and teahouses, visiting Fushimi Inari Taisha feels like a sort of mini pilgrimage in itself.
I was hot, sweaty, and tired, but Mom was determined to reach the peak of the sacred mountain, so after reaching the end of the trail, we veered off onto the summit loop to keep climbing upwards.
Visiting the shrine is especially spiritual in the early morning when it isn't so crowded. And it turns out that nearly everyone who visits stays near the base to take their photos before heading off to their next stop, leaving the upper levels of the mountain quiet, serene, and nearly empty.
We continued climbing, higher and higher up the mountain trail.
After trekking up the mountain, we finally made it to the shrine at the peak of Mount Inari. The air was cool and breezy, and the path we had been following opened into a cluster of smaller sub-shrines tucked amongst the mossy stones and trees.
Many of the sub-shrines were stacked high with miniature red torii gates, each one inscribed with the name of a donor. These little wooden facsimiles of torii gates are purchased and dedicated by visitors to the shrine who wish to express gratitude or to ask Inari for good fortune. Once placed at one of the shrines, they remain there until eventually removed by the shrine caretakers who respectfully burn them in a ritual of devotion and renewal as part of a New Year cleansing fire festival.
We made our way back down the mountain - much easier going than on the way up - and arrived in a local neighborhood. It was still early in the morning, and I was desperate for a cup of coffee. The Lonely Planet guidebook had recommended a nearby cafe which we navigated towards.
And soon, we arrived at the Vermillion Cafe. After a short wait, we were seated in the cafe's back patio overlooking a small pond.
We had avocado toast and iced coffee for breakfast, then called a cab to take us on to our next destination.
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