“Came to a temple famous for foxes”

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A 5 chan Thread (2024)

1: (OP) Where are the foxes?

2: 

You are the one who will become the fox.

3: 

Just look behind you.

4:

 Kon   ฅ^•ω•^ฅ  Kon 

⭐️NOTE: Kon is a sound fox makes, like “yip, yip.”

5: 

Can’t you see that there’s one right there on that big stone lantern.

6: 

Is this Toyokawa Inari?

⭐️NOTE:

This place indeed is Toyokawa Inari (豊川稲荷) 

Toyokawa Inari Website 

8:

 So instead of guardian lion-dogs (komainu), they have guardian foxes?

⭐️NOTE:

Komainu (狛犬), often called lion-dogs in English, are statue pairs of lion-like creatures, which traditionally guard the entrance or gate of the shrine, or placed in front of or within the honden (inner sanctum) of Japanese Shinto shrines. (Wikipedia)

Komainu at shrine

9: 

The udon shop there is actually famous.

⭐️NOTE:

Udon

Udon (うどん) is a thick noodle made from wheat flour, used in Japanese cuisine. (Wikipedia) 

Guide to Udon/Soba (Japan National Tourism Organisation) 

10: 

I thought Toyokawa Inari was a shrine, but it’s a temple?

19:

>>10 

 Inari worship traces back to India, so a lot of them are under temple jurisdiction even if they feel shrine-like.

26:

>>19

 Inari has two origins: Japan’s Ukanomitama (ウカノミタマ or 稲魂) deity, and India’s Dakini-ten (荼枳尼天). 

Fushimi Inari Taisha (Grand Shrine) is from the former, while Toyokawa Inari is from the latter.

 

11: 

If you go further in, you’ll find lots of foxes.

15: 

I heard there are like 30,000 Inari shrines across Japan.

16:

Kyoto’s Fushimi Inari Taisha is the GOAT. 

18: 

If you don’t head home before sunset, the foxes will follow you home.  

20:

22:

>>20 

Those things move around every night on their own, you know.

21: 

The shock I felt when I learned that the foxes themselves aren’t Inari-sama.

I thought they’d appear in fox form and say “Child of man…” to me or something.

NOTE:

⭐️The fox, symbolizing both benevolence and malevolence, is sometimes identified with the messenger of Inari, and statues of foxes are found in great numbers both inside and outside shrines dedicated to the rice god. (Britannica)

⭐️Inari's foxes, or kitsune, are pure white and act as their messengers but it is more likely that in ancient times the fox itself was revered as the kami of rice.

According to myth, Inari, as a megami (female Kami), was said to have come to Japan at the time of its creation amidst a harsh famine that struck the land. "She [Inari] descended from Heaven riding on a white fox, and in her hand she carried sheaves of cereal or grain. Ine, the word now used for rice, is the name for this cereal. What she carried was not rice but some cereal that grows in swamps. According to legend, in the ancient times Japan was water and swamp land."

Foxes running wild in rice-fields might have inspired the idea of Inari as they seemed to inspect the crops. To show their gratitude the farmers offered red rice and fried bean curd to the foxes. (Wikipedia)

28: (OP)

OP here, turns out I was restricted (couldn’t post for a while).

29: (OP)

Every time I try to upload a pic, I get an error…

30: 

>>29

Guess you’ve been possessed.

33:(OP)

39 :

>>33

The fact that the path to the main hall is winding means… they must be sealing away something bad there.

37: (OP)

38: (OP)

LIKE WOW ~~~~~~

40: 

When I hear “fox,” the first place that comes to mind is Toyokawa.

By the way, locals say it’s cursed—if you go there on a date, the couple will break up.

41: (OP)

44: 

Wait, it’s a temple but there are fox statues and torii gates?

I really don’t get it.

⭐️NOTE:

A torii (Japanese: 鳥居) is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred, and a spot where kami are welcomed and thought to travel through.

The presence of a torii at the entrance is usually the simplest way to identify Shinto shrines (Wikipedia)

47:

>>44

Until the Meiji government got fed bad ideas from “greedy Jewish merchants,” it was normal for Shinto and Buddhism to be mixed.

NOTE:

⭐️Shinbutsu-shūgō (神仏習合, "syncretism of kami and buddhas") is the syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism that was Japan's main organized religion up until the Meiji period. Beginning in 1868, the new Meiji government approved a series of laws that separated Japanese native kami worship, on one side, from Buddhism which had assimilated it, on the other.

When Buddhism was introduced from China in the Asuka period (6th century), the Japanese tried to reconcile the new beliefs with the older Shinto beliefs, assuming both were true. As a consequence, Buddhist temples (寺, tera) were attached to local Shinto shrines (神社, jinja) and vice versa and devoted to both kami and Buddhist figures. The local religion and foreign Buddhism never fused into a single, unified religion, but remained inextricably linked to the present day through interaction. The depth of the influence from Buddhism on local religious beliefs can be seen in much of Shinto's conceptual vocabulary and even the types of Shinto shrines seen today. The large worship halls and religious images are themselves of Buddhist origin. The formal separation of Buddhism from Shinto took place only as recently as the end of the 19th century; however, in many ways, the blending of the two still continues. (Wikipedia)

⭐️ The supposed connection between shinbutsu-shūgō (the syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism) and the Jewish people is a theory mainly put forward in certain books, and it is not widely recognized as a historical or academic fact. Shinbutsu-shūgō is a uniquely Japanese religious phenomenon in which Shinto and Buddhism were blended together, but some interpretations claim that elements of Judaism were incorporated into it. For example, connections have been suggested with immigrant groups such as the Hata clan, Xu Fu, and Prince Yuzuki, as well as with the YAP gene. However, all of these remain speculative hypotheses proposed by specific authors, rather than established facts. (Google AI)

45: (OP)

Let’s go get something to eat

48:(OP)

Inarin (Note: The manhole cover above says “Inarin.” It must be a local mascot.)

50: (OP)

Since I’m here, I want to try kitsune udon (udon with fried tofu).

⭐️Link: Kitsune Udon: Osaka’s Foxiest Food

52:(OP)

Alright, I’ll go with this!

54: (OP)

Kitsune udon—650 yen. Way too hot, burned my tongue.

55:(OP)

Back at Toyokawa Station now, so that’s it.

Thanks for following the thread!