The End... or is it?

With this, my first visit to Japan draws to a close. I've visited a total of 2508 shrines and temples in this land, 603 of which had foxes. And if you look at where most of those were located, there's a clear bias.

Does this mean that the Fox Shrine Blog will end here? No. I have visited Japan a second time (see the Travelling Fox Blog Book V ~ Chapter 21 ~ Charms of Changi ~ Nights of Nara and following), and during that time have naturally sought out and found more fox shrines.

However, that number is limited, and my next trip to Japan is not yet planned. As such, from here on out I am going to reduce the rate at which I publish new posts on this blog. In fact, you've probably noticed that I've been gradually slowing down my publication rate these last two months already.

I'll take a bit of a break now since I'm going to the Thalhäusl again (see the Travelling Fox Blog Book V ~ Chapter 18 ~ Thalhäusl the Third for example). Then, starting sometime next month, I'm aiming at making two updates per week - probably on Wednesday and Saturday. Hopefully, that will let me stretch out my backlog of shrines long to make it to my next Japan trip, because I can hear the land of foxes calling out to me again...

Anyway, long story made short: There'll be a bit of a break now, and then new shrine posts will be coming at a slower rate.

So stay tuned, and be of great cheer! =^,^= 

605 ~ Tabigitsune Inari Jinja (Home Shrine)

 

Japanese Name: 旅狐稲荷神社
Romanized Reading: Tabigitsune Inari Jinja
English Translation: Travelling Fox Inari Shrine
Size: Tiny
Deity: Inari
Fox Count: 11
First Visit: 29-Mar-2019  
Location: Munich, Germany
Address: Hitlstr. 3, 80997 Munich
Coordinates: 48.18081,11.48088

My first visit to Japan is over, but I've brought a piece of Japan back home with me: Sufficient materials in order to build my own little fox shrine back home. 

This includes:

• ten tiny porcelain foxes
• one even tinier plastic fox I got out of a capsule machine
• two equally tiny plastic shrines out of the same capsule machine
• one tiny porcelain Tanuki to keep the foxes company
• three Ofuda from Anamori Inari and Toyokawa Inari respectively (two wooden, one paper)
• a paper scroll depicting Inari riding a fox down from the heavens
• a little diorama shrine
• and two paper lamps from Fushimi Inari, adorned with foxes.

The two dolls flanking the shrine are souvenirs that my grandmother brought with her from Japan a long time ago. As far as I know, she was also the only other member of my family to ever have visited Japan.

With this, I'll always have a little connection to the land I travelled for a year and its many fox shrines. Its name reflects that. As for its reading, I was gonna go for "Ryoko", but every Japanese who saw the Kanji 旅狐 on my business card read it as "Tabigitsune", so I'll go with that instead. 

604 ~ Ooshima Inari Ookami

 

Japanese Name: 大島稲荷大神
Romanized Reading: Ooshima Inari Ookami
English Translation: Great Island Inari Great Deity
Size: Small Side Shrine of Ooshima Hachiman Jinja
Deity: Inari
Fox Count: 10
First Visit: 3-Feb-2019  
Location: Kawasaki
Address: 3 Chome-4-8 Ōshima, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa-ken 210-0834
Coordinates: 35.52076,139.71686

The final fox shrine that I should find on my first visit to Japan. This one is a side shrine of Ooshima Hachiman Jinja (大島八幡神社 "Ooshima Hachiman Shrine"). It's a good ending, with two caged life-sized stone foxes in front, and eight small-to-tiny porcelain foxes inside the shrine.

Fitting for an ending, this is also the southernmost fox shrine that I visited in the Radiant Metropolis (though I'm sure there are many more just waiting to be found).
 

603 ~ Shiodome Inari Jinja

Japanese Name: 汐留稲荷神社 
Romanized Reading: Shiodome Inari Jinja
English Translation: Eventide Halting Inari Shrine
Size: Medium
Deity: Inari
Fox Count: 2
First Visit: 2-Feb-2019  
Location: Kawasaki
Address: 2 Chome-24-21 Ikegamishinchō, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa-ken 210-0832
Coordinates: 35.52489,139.73190

The final fox shrine that I should find on this day, while it was already getting dark. A pair of caged life-sized stone foxes watch over this one.

At this point, we're nearing the end of my first stay in Japan, but I should still find one more fox shrine on my final stray the next day.

602 ~ Yoshida Inari Jinja (Colored Foxes)

 

Japanese Name: 義田稲荷神社 
Romanized Reading: Yoshida Inari Jinja
English Translation: Justice Field Inari Shrine
Size: Medium
Deity: Inari
Fox Count: 2
First Visit: 2-Feb-2019  
Location: Kawasaki
Address: 23-20 Yotsuyakamicho, Kawasaki Ward, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 210-0828
Coordinates: 35.52707,139.73580

Back in Kawasaki again, at the end of this long stray day, I come across this shrine, and once again, this is something special: Unlike in other shrines, where the foxes are typically white, here the two life-sized caged stone foxes are actually colored in the color pattern of actual foxes!
 

47 GOLDEN Revisited ~ Anamori Inari Jinja under construction

Remember Anamori Inari Jinja, my first golden fox shrine? Well, I'm visiting this one for a last time before leaving. As it turns out, a lot of stuff happened since I was last here, and the shrine is barely recognizable.

I know it is a tradition for shrines to be regularly torn down and rebuilt as a ritual of renewal, and now it looks like it's this shrine's turn. Most of its buildings have already been torn down. The biggest Torii are neatly stacked, while the smaller ones lie in a pile. As do most of the tiny porcelain foxes. I hope they're gonna be okay.

At the same time, I'm also curious to see what they'll make of this shrine once they're done. I won't have the time to see it during this visit, since I'm scheduled to leave in but a few days, but when I return, I'll make sure to visit this shrine again to see how it turned out.
 

601 ~ Side Shrine of Hamatake Jinja (Neatly arranged offerings)

 

Japanese Name: ?
Romanized Reading: ?
English Translation: ?
Size: Small Side Shrine of Hamatake Jinja
Deity: Toyouke Hime no Ookami
Fox Count: 4
First Visit: 2-Feb-2019  
Location: Tokyo-Oota
Address: 3 Chome-19-18 Nishikojiya, Ota City, Tokyo 144-0034
Coordinates: 35.55478,139.73811

The last new fox shrine that I should find in Tokyo this time around. This one is a side shrine of Hamatake Jinja (浜竹神社  "Beach Bamboo Shrine"), and is dedicated to Toyouke Hime no Ookami (豊受姫大神 "Bountiful Catch Princess Great Deity"), who is one of the Inari deities. 

Two life-sized caged stone foxes sit watch outside, and two tiny porcelain foxes reside within. The offerings are also very neatly arranged inside.