Toyokawa Inari Shrine 豊川稲荷
One Temple, Two Denominations
The Toyokawa Inari temple, located about fifty kilometers southeast of Nagoya in Aichi prefecture, is one of the three great Japanese temples (along with the Fushimi Inari temple in Kyoto and the Yutoku Inari temple in Kashima) dedicated to the ukami Inari Ôkami , the god of fertility. It also has the particularity of being a Buddhist temple, thus displaying a double denominational hat.
Temple of Warriors
The Toyokawa Inari temple was founded in 1441 by the Buddhist priest Tôkai Gieki, who belonged to the Sôtô sect (main school of Zen Buddhism) . This Buddhist temple has as a figure of veneration a Juichimen Kannon , avatar of the Toyokawa Dakinishinten , female demon riding on a white fox of Japanese Buddhism. This kannon is identified with the kami of fertility, rice, agriculture, industry and material success Ôkami Inari , which made it a temple sought after by warriors wishing to ensure their victory on the battlefield. Thus during the Sengoku period ( 15th and 16th centuries), the temple was able to attract great figures such as Imagawa Yoshimoto, Oda Nobunaga, Ieyasu Tokugawa, or Hideyoshi Toyotomi. From the Edo period (1603-1868) to the present day, it was merchants who flocked to ask for success in business.
Read also: Zen
Toyokawa Inari Shrine
Wikipedia
The foxes are watching
The majority of the temple was rebuilt during the Meiji era (1868-1912). The sanmon gate, which is positioned between the entrance gate and the butsuden "Buddha hall", dates from the Sengoku period (1536), while the hon-dô ("main building") was rebuilt at the beginning of the 19th century . century.
Once past the impressive gate almost 5 meters high, you can cross the alley blocked on both sides by a cloud of red banners.
Read: Shintoism
Reiko-Izuka Hill behind Toyokawa Inari Temple
Wikipedia
You can head to the wooden statue of Jizo Bosatsu, made during the Kamakura period (1185-1333) and which is designated by the Ministry of Education and Culture as an important Japanese cultural property. The temple, which extends over several hectares and has nearly twenty pavilions , allows long walks in the middle of statues of foxes (the symbol of the deity of the temple).
Read also : Cultural property registered in Japan
Behind the main building, you can find the particularity of this temple: the slope of a hill, the Reiko-Zuka, on which an impressive number of statues of foxes sporting a piece of red cloth around their necks have been installed .
The temple, which welcomes nearly 6 million visitors each year , is particularly visited during the New Year holiday. You can tick other dates:
- the Great Spring Festival in early May
- the Mitima festival in August
- the Great Toyokawa Autumn Festival at the end of November.
Get ready for the kitsune ride!
Address, timetable & access
Address
Phone
0533-85-2030Timetable
Toyokawa-Inari Station (Meitetsu Line)Price
FreeAccess
from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
