Also, the offering box has foxes painted on it, which is also not something you see very often.
Here's the foxes on the approach to the Temple:
All this adds up to "If you like visiting fox shrines, then you have GOT to come here!" I will promise a fox-gasm!
It's also one of the great ones, second only after Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto, right down to the fact that the nearest train station is named after this shrine. In fact, if you read through the archives, you'll notice that I've already encountered quite a bunch of branch shrines of this one. Also, there was this one poster that I saw back in Kagoshima, but unfortunately I photographed it in such a way that the name of this place was illegible. Imagine my glee when I just randomly ran into it today, resolving that mystery.
Anyway, the main temple only features four large bronze foxes, but there is many more to be found on the extensive temple grounds, which by the way are laid out like this:
Japanese Name: ?
Romanized Reading: ?
English Translation: ?
Size: Tiny Side Shrine of Shinkouji
Deity: ?
Fox Count: 2
First Visit: 16-Jan-2019
Location: Toyokawa
Address: 〒442-0046 Aichi-ken, Toyokawa-shi, Saiwaichō, 89
Coordinates: 34.82412,137.38725
The first fox shrine that I should find on my epic stray from Toyokawa to Toyohashi, and also the first humble fox shrine I should find in Toyokawa. This one is a side shrine of Shinkouji (真光寺 "True Light Temple"), and is located on an elongated stretch of land behind the temple (which is still in the middle of the city though). You need to walk for about 40m to get to this shrine from the temple. I wonder why it's so far away. It's not like there's anything else on that land.
One reason I could imagine is that this shrine is tied to the tree beneath which it stands, and that it came to be associated with the nearby temple. And then, when the land was developed, all the land between the shrine and the temple was considered part of the temple grounds. But all that is only my guess.
Anyway, two tiny foxes watch over this shrine, and they're not the usual porcelain pair. Instead, one is a typical white porcelain fox, and the other is a white stone or clay fox, that is a little bit bigger (but still tiny).
A side shrine of Susanoo Jinja (素盞鳴神社 "Naked Sake Cup Chirp Shrine"), two tiny porcelain foxes reside within.
This is just a marker post. All shrines before this post are in Nara, and all shrines after this are in Toyokawa, Toyohashi or in between.
This one features ten tiny porcelain foxes, as well as a single lonely life sized stone fox, who is modeled as explicitly male. Since he doesn't have a counterpart, however, this one does not increase the vixen side count.
This shrine is also known as Enmusubi-no-Kami (えんむすびの神 "Matchmaking God"), being "in charge" of bringing people together. A plaque next to the shrine literally reads "Matchmaking god for wedding someone wonderful".
Anyway, there are also six tiny porcelain foxes within the shrine. Also, Sudou Tennousha is a bit tricky to reach: Although it is located only 20m south of the main road, you actually have to go to a side road 70m to the west, and then walk back east to the shrine from there.
Japanese Name: 稲荷社
Romanized Reading: Inarisha
English Translation: Inari Shrine
Size: Tiny Side Shrine of Ten Jinja
Deity: Inari
Fox Count: 2
First Visit: 8-Jan-2019
Location: Nara
Address: 1049 Takabatakecho, Nara, 630-8301
Coordinates: 34.6783,135.8369
This is just a marker post. All shrines before this post are in Kyoto, and all shrines after this are in Nara.
I only came across a pair of life-sized stone foxes here, but I'm sure if I had spent more time looking, I would have found many more in the vicinity.
Japanese Name : 納符堂 Romanized Reading : Osame Fudou English Translation : Offerings Hall Size: Small Side Shrine of Toyokawa Inari De...
