587 ~ Toyokawa Dakini Shinten

 

Japanese Name: 豊川吁枳尼真天
Romanized Reading: Toyokawa Dakini Shinten
English Translation: Bountiful River Dakini Deva
Size: Tiny Side Shrine of Toyokawa Inari Tokyo Betsuin
Deity: Dakini
Fox Count: 5
First Visit: 31-Jan-2019  
Location: Tokyo-Minato
Address: 1 Chome-4-7 Motoakasaka, Minato City, Tokyo 107-0051
Coordinates: 35.6764 139.7325

The twelfth vulpine side shrine of Toyokawa Inari Tokyo Betsuin. I'm not 100% certain where exactly this one was located, but clearly it was somewhere next to all the flags. This one is another Dakini shrine, even though the name is spelled slightly different than at the earlier one (吃枳尼 VS 吁枳尼). This comes down to variations in so-called Ateji (当て字 "Right Character"), which refers to the practice of using Kanji to convey pronunciation instead of meaning. This dates back to the time before Hiragana and Katakana were used, and today is mostly found in religious contexts, such as the names of deities. The result is different spellings for the same deity, because clearly Japanese wasn't already confusing enough as it is.

Anyway, four life-sized stone foxes sit in front of this shrine, and one of the two to the right has a little fox kit, thus bringing the vixen side count to 19:42.
 

586 ~ Kosazu Reigitsune

 

Japanese Name: 子授霊狐
Romanized Reading: Kosazu Reigitsune
English Translation: Child Granting Spirit Fox
Size: Tiny Side Shrine of Toyokawa Inari Tokyo Betsuin
Deity: Inari
Fox Count: 12
First Visit: 31-Jan-2019  
Location: Tokyo-Minato
Address: 1 Chome-4-7 Motoakasaka, Minato City, Tokyo 107-0051
Coordinates: 35.6764 139.7325

The eleventh vulpine side shrine of Toyokawa Inari Tokyo Betsuin. This one is located to the left of the three previous shrines, at the very back wall of the temple compound. The name of this shrine clearly refers to Kosazuke (子授け), which means getting pregnant after a shrine visit. And since Inari is also associated with fertility, I guess this is where couples come to pray if they want children.

Anyway, a total of twelve life-sized stone foxes congregate on this shrine. At least one of those on the right has a little kit, thus bringing the vixen side count to 19:41. I say "at least" because the long red bibs of the foxes here might hide more foxes. As it is, I can just barely see the paws and head of that one fox kit peeking out from beneath its mother's bib.

585 ~ Tokushichirou​ Inari

 

Japanese Name: 徳七郎稲荷
Romanized Reading: Tokushichirou Inari
English Translation: Virtuous Seventh Son Inari
Size: Small Side Shrine of Toyokawa Inari Tokyo Betsuin
Deity: Inari
Fox Count: 11
First Visit: 31-Jan-2019  
Location: Tokyo-Minato
Address: 1 Chome-4-7 Motoakasaka, Minato City, Tokyo 107-0051
Coordinates: 35.6764 139.7325

The tenth vulpine side shrine of Toyokawa Inari Tokyo Betsuin. This one is located to the left of Ugajinou. There's a whole skulk of foxes residing within, ranging in size and composition from life-sized stone to tiny porcelain. One of the stone foxes to the right has a kit, thus bringing the vixen side count to 19:40.
 

584 ~ Tarou Inari

 

Japanese Name: 大郎稲荷
Romanized Reading: Tarou Inari
English Translation: Big Boy Inari
Size: Small Side Shrine of Toyokawa Inari Tokyo Betsuin
Deity: Inari
Fox Count: 5
First Visit: 31-Jan-2019  
Location: Tokyo-Minato
Address: 1 Chome-4-7 Motoakasaka, Minato City, Tokyo 107-0051
Coordinates: 35.6764 139.7325

The ninth vulpine side shrine of Toyokawa Inari Tokyo Betsuin. This one is located to the right of Ugajinou. One life-sized stone fox resides within, surrounded by four small ones.
 

583 ~ Ugajinou (Background Image)

 

Japanese Name: 宇賀神王
Romanized Reading: Ugajinou
English Translation: Ugajin King
Size: Medium Side Shrine of Toyokawa Inari Tokyo Betsuin
Deity: Ugajin
Fox Count: Many
First Visit: 31-Jan-2019  
Location: Tokyo-Minato
Address: 1 Chome-4-7 Motoakasaka, Minato City, Tokyo 107-0051
Coordinates: 35.6764 139.7325

The eight vulpine side shrine of Toyokawa Inari Tokyo Betsuin, and the one responsible for the very background image of this blog. The approach to this shrine is flanked by dozens of stone foxes ranging from small to life-sized. Three of those on the right bear kits, thus bringing the vixen side count to 19:39.

And if the foxes on the approach to the shrine aren't enough for you, don't worry, there's several more foxes of various sizes inside the shrine, along with about a dozen snakes.

The deity here is another "incarnation" of Inari: Ugajin (宇賀神 "Eaves Joy God"), who is typically considered the Shinto equivalent of the Hindu goddess Saraswati (although Benzaiten is also considered to be her equivalent. Shinto faith is complicated).

 

582 ~ Toyokawa Dakini Shinten

Japanese Name: 豊川吃枳尼真天
Romanized Reading: Toyokawa Dakini Shinten
English Translation: Bountiful River Dakini Deva
Size: Tiny Side Shrine of Toyokawa Inari Tokyo Betsuin
Deity: Dakini
Fox Count: 7
First Visit: 31-Jan-2019  
Location: Tokyo-Minato
Address: 1 Chome-4-7 Motoakasaka, Minato City, Tokyo 107-0051
Coordinates: 35.6764 139.7325

The seventh vulpine side shrine of Toyokawa Inari Tokyo Betsuin. This one is located right next to the Reigitsune Houan no Dsuka, on the other side of a row of flags. This shrine also nicely illustrates the origin of Inari worship in Japan, which came from the Indian goddess Dakini, which was came to Japan via Buddhism as Dakini-Ten (or Dakini-Shinten if you want to be fancy), and eventually merged with local fertility deities into the Inari faith we observe today.

Anyway, a total of seven life-sized stone foxes watch over this shrine. One of the right ones has a kit, thus bringing the vixen side count to 19:36.
 

581 ~ Toyokawa Inari Tokyo Betsuin Okunoin

 

Japanese Name: 豊川稲荷東京別院奥の院
Romanized Reading: Toyokawa Inari Tokyo Betsuin Okunoin
English Translation: Toyokawa Inari Tokyo Branch Temple Innermost Temple
Size: Medium Side Temple of Toyokawa Inari Tokyo Betsuin
Deity: Inari
Fox Count: 6
First Visit: 31-Jan-2019  
Location: Tokyo-Minato
Address: 1 Chome-4-7 Motoakasaka, Minato City, Tokyo 107-0051
Coordinates: 35.6764 139.7325

The sixth vulpine side shrine (actually, this one is technically a temple, but oh well, you get the idea) of Toyokawa Inari Tokyo Betsuin. This is where things start to get a bit confusing, location-wise, because there's just so many fox shrines on such a small area, and I did not make a proper map of them all in relation to one another. Anyway, I am reasonably sure that this one is the right one of the two back shrines. A total of six foxes flank its approach. Four of them are life-sized stone foxes, and two of them are slightly larger-than life bronze foxes.