Travelling to Japan was an amazing experience that I will always cherish. Ever since I was a youngster, I had always aspired to travel to other countries like Japan. Although this is my second time, the excitement is high and what probably tops this one of is that I finally did it along with Wibi and Kelsey. In the space of our 2 and a half weeks of holiday we traveled to 6 places and One of them which ill talk today is the obvious Kyoto. Kyoto for me is one of the main catalyst reasons why I love the country, the vast history and long traditions that still remain today giving you access to this “Old Japan” feeling. There is a vast library of places to visit, too many too cover in the space of 1 week. However I made sure to try and do the best as I can with our itinerary, and with Project Holo in the back of my mind I had to choose one of the many Landmarks convenient for the project. After a few hours thinking on the train on our way to Kyoto and a few debates with Wibi and Kelsey, the chose was made and one of them was none other than the surreal Fushimi Inari Shrine.

This shrine is as impressive as it’s cracked up to be, with its seemingly endelss rows of red tori gates up the side of the mountain, Walking through all them makes you feel like you’re on a film set- it’s just so perfect. Not forgetting its lovely fox statues everywhere! Primarily dedicated to business success, you’ll see a lot of businessmen here – at least at the street-level areas of the shrine. It is said that The torii gates along the entire trail are donations by individuals and companies, and you will find the donator’s name and the date of the donation inscribed on the back of each gate. The cost starts around 400,000 yen ($5526 SGD) for a small sized gate and increases to over one million yen for a large gate. It provides a very pleasant walk up the mountain (quite strenuous at times especially having to carry the cardboard!). Nice views and a few tea shops and cafes near the top. Looks beautiful at night, with lanterns lit up – check out my full coverage on it here.

So it’s well worth spending a few hours there, As we were walking along the trail, we stopped at various times to do a few shots of Holo and the highlight was definitely the group shot we did with School girls. It seems that where ever we went around in Kyoto there was a school outing meaning the place was with filled school kids as well as teens, same went with the Fushimi Inari Shrine although less crowded, so as we were taking photos a group of girls suddenly appeared out of no where, they definitely recognised Holo as they were giggling to each other. Wibi asked them for a group shot with Holo and I as he thought it was a great opportunity to add this encounter in our catalog. Luckily without any hesitation they said yes and I do have to thank them – head over here for more in-depth information about the project for those new here.

It was a great peaceful experience and a great choice for the Project where wolf met fox. Its now our 5th landmark but it doesnt stop here, the journey continues! Next Stop – a certain encounter with a Golden Pavilion!

Fushimi Inari Taisha(伏見稲荷大社) is the head shrine of Inari, located in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan. The shrine sits at the base of a mountain also named Inari which is 233 metres above sea-level, and includes trails up the mountain to many smaller shrines. Since in early Japan Inari was seen as the patron of business, each of the Torii is donated by a Japanese business. First and foremost though, Inari is the god of rice. Merchants and manufacturers worship Inari for wealth. Donated torii lining footpaths are part of the scenic view. This popular shrine is said to have as many as 32,000 sub-shrines (bunsha (分社)) throughout Japan.