It’s another early one today, I want to beat the crowds at one of the most popular tourist spots in Kyoto, Fushimi Inari. I got up at 6.00 to get an early start and I got to Kyoto station at 6.45. The first train to Inari wasn’t until 7.00 however. Inari is only 2 stops from Kyoto station so was there by 7.10 and already it was starting to get busy at the entrance to Fushimi, just opposite the station.

Fushimi Inari

Fushimi Inari is popular because of the approximately 10000 torii gates that line the trails up and down Mount Inari and the 1000s of shrines. After walking around the main shrines at the entrance, I started to ascend through the Torii gates. At some point I left the main trail following a sign to another shrine and ended up walking up Mount Inari what appeared to be the long way around. I only saw one other person taking the same route as me. I’m glad I took the route I did though because I came upon a spot where there was a waterfall. There was a Japanese man here who told me a little bit about the waterfall and how it was used by Shinto worshipers to cleanse themselves. It was so quiet here, it made me feel like if I were to be religious in anyway (I’m not, I’m an atheist), I think I would choose Shinto.

It took about an hour to reach the top of the mountain and the shrine that was there. There was also a shop at the top that stopped me from being able to see anything from there. It was a bit disappointing really. On the way back down though there was somewhere where I could get a good view of Kyoto.

I walked all the way back down to the base, the whole walk took a couple of hours and it was amazing. The weather was warm and the sky was blue. When I got back to the entrance it was heaving with people. I’m so glad once again that I got up early.

You would think after all the walking I’d done since arriving in Japan and after walking up a mountain I’d want to get the train back to Kyoto station, but no, I walked it. It took another 30 minutes or so to get back there and I rewarded my self with some lunch and a beer.

It was only 12.00 so I walked to the Nishiki Market area again to have a look around all the different streets lined with shops and restaurants.

I spent a few hours around here before heading back to the hotel to drop off my M6 and other stuff. The plan for tonight was some street photography with just the Ricoh GRII, high contrast black and white Daido Moriyama style.

I went back to the same area shopping area I had left earlier, but with just the Ricoh.

I went back to the bar from last night, it was different people this time, but I still had a good evening. I had a few beers before calling it a night and going back to the hotel.

37832 steps, 17.5 miles walked today.

Japan Day 1
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Japan Day 8