175 ~ Inari Jinja

 

Japanese Name:  稲荷神社 
Romanized Reading: Inari Jinja
English Translation: Inari Shrine
Size: Small
Deity: Inari
Fox Count: 10
First Visit: 18-Jul-2018
Location: Takahata
Coordinates: 40.0837194,141.0490776

A small fox shrine located in the rural area of Takahata (高畑 "High Field") in a valley in the mountains of Touhoku (東北 "Northeast"), which as the name suggests is the northeastern-most region of Japan's main island of Honshu (which means that for a long time it was the northeastern-most area of all of Japan, since Hokkaido was only annexed relatively late in Japan's history).

There aren't many fox shrines in this area still. In fact, this is the northernmost fox shrine that I should find on Honshu, despite having looked in the towns of Hachinohe (八戸 "Eight Door") and Aomori (青森 "Blue Forest") as well. Eight tiny white porcelain foxes can be seen of you spy deep into the heart of this little shrine, along with two equally tiny black ones of unknown composition.