| relig. |
A popular deity of rice harvest and, in modern times, business success. Inari is named after his (or her) original location of mount Inari just outside Kyoto, at the foot of which has developed the chief Inari shrine, the Fushimi Inari taisha Officially comprising five deities (the Inari-go-sha-dai-myojin), Inari is closely associated with his/her messenger the fox, o-kitsune-san, who is sometimes seen as separate but usually identified as Inari. Inari first acquired prestige as a protector deity of the Tojiji and other Buddhist temples and retains a high standing amongst the corporate business community in Japan. Inari shrines including Fushimi feature long avenues of red torii, each donated by a company to secure prosperity. As well as major and minor branch shrines of Fushimi such as the Anamori-Inari-jinja in Tokyo (Haneda) there are numerous independent Inari shrines which have arisen following revelations by the kami. Inari continues to be worshipped in some Buddhist temples such as the Toyokawa kakumyo gonji A Popular Dictionary of Shinto (Brian Bocking) |
