215 ~ Suikei Jinja, Kumano Jinja, Inari Jinja

 

Japanese Name	Romanized Reading	English Translation	Deity
推恵神社	Suikei Jinja	Infer Blessing Shrine	?
熊野神社	Kumano Jinja	Bear Field Shrine	Kumano
稲荷神社	Inari Jinja	Inari Shrine	Inari

Size: Tiny Side Shrine of Jouzan Inari Jinja
Fox Count: Many
First Visit: 11-Sep-2018
Location: Matsue
Address: 477 Tonomachi, Matsue-shi, Shimane-ken 690-0887
Coordinates: 35.4776788,133.04957

The fourth and final fox shrine and Jouzan Inari Jinja, and I think also the first fox shrine I encounter that houses multiple deities in a single shrine. This is something seen occasionally in side shrines of larger shrines such as Jouzan Inari Jinja. I can't say anything about the deity associated with Suikei Jinja, but Kumano is a name that you'll find more often in Japanese shrines. These refer to a set of deities from the Kumano area that are associated with health, protection and general guidance.

Anyway, this shrine is directly next to the previous one, and again features many tiny porcelain foxes (around 70 or so), along with a pair of life-sized stone foxes.

214 ~ Kotohira Jinja

 

Japanese Name:  金刀比羅神社
Romanized Reading: Kotohira Jinja
English Translation: Kotohira Shrine
Size: Tiny Side Shrine of Jouzan Inari Jinja
Deity: Konpira
Fox Count: 38
First Visit: 11-Sep-2018
Location: Matsue
Address: 477 Tonomachi, Matsue-shi, Shimane-ken 690-0887
Coordinates: 35.4776788,133.04957

The third foxy side shrine of Jouzan Inari Jinja. Located to the right of the main shrine, this is the only one that has a countable number of tiny porcelain foxes. It is also the only one that is not dedicated to Inari, but instead to Konpira, god of merchants and sailors. Not a bad shrine to have in a town that is located on land bridge between two lakes, one of which is actually more of a bay with a channel to the sea that is 200m wide.

213 ~ Nameless Shrine

 

Japanese Name:  ?
Romanized Reading: ?
English Translation: ?
Size: Tiny Side Shrine of Jouzan Inari Jinja
Deity: Inari
Fox Count: Very Many
First Visit: 11-Sep-2018
Location: Matsue
Address: 477 Tonomachi, Matsue-shi, Shimane-ken 690-0887
Coordinates: 35.4776788,133.04957

The second foxy side shrine of Jouzan Inari Jinja. Located behind the main shrine, this one has way too many tiny porcelain foxes to count (several hundreds), along with six life-sized stone foxes. Two of them are quite weathered, and another two have floppy ears.

212 ~ Nameless Shrine

 

Japanese Name:  ?
Romanized Reading: ?
English Translation: ?
Size: Tiny Side Shrine of Jouzan Inari Jinja
Deity: Inari
Fox Count: Many
First Visit: 11-Sep-2018
Location: Matsue
Address: 477 Tonomachi, Matsue-shi, Shimane-ken 690-0887
Coordinates: 35.4776788,133.04957

The first vulpine side shrine of Jouzan Inari Jinja. This one stands to the left of the main shrine and marks one end of the row of uncountable foxes. And it makes for a good start already, featuring around 50 foxes on its own already, two of which are a bit smaller than life-sized stone foxes, and the others are tiny porcelain foxes. The letter box like wooden structure to the right is for depositing donations.
 

211 GOLDEN ~ Jouzan Inari Jinja

 

Japanese Name:  城山稲荷神社
Romanized Reading: Jouzan Inari Jinja
English Translation: Castle Mountain Inari Shrine
Size: Big
Deity: Inari
Fox Count: Uncountable
First Visit: 11-Sep-2018
Location: Matsue
Address: 477 Tonomachi, Matsue-shi, Shimane-ken 690-0887
Coordinates: 35.4776788,133.04957

During my stay in Daisen, I am privy to a bike, and as a result of the increased mobility am able to make a day trip all the way over to Matsue (松江 "Pine Bay") in Shimane-Ken (島根県 "Island Root Prefecture"). And a good thing too, because it is there that I find my fourth golden fox shrine!

Located on the castle grounds of Matsue castle, this shrine does not only feature several foxy side shrines, but it is literally surrounded by foxes of all sizes, shapes and states of erosion. If I read the board at the shrine gate read, this long row of foxes contains roughly two to three thousand fox statues.

(Click here to view the video in a new tab if this website fails to display it)

210 ~ Nameless Shrine

 

Japanese Name:  ?
Romanized Reading: ?
English Translation: ?
Size: Small Side Shrine of Kaike Onsen Jinja
Deity: Inari?
Fox Count: 10
First Visit: 11-Sep-2018
Location: Yonago
Address: 3 Chome-16 Kaikeonsen, Yonago, Tottori 683-0001, Japan
Coordinates: 35.4568342,133.3654244

The first fox shrine that I should find after my move to Daisen (大山 "Large Mountain"). This one is located in the city of Yonago (米子 "Rice Child") in the prefecture of Tottori (鳥取 "Bird Take"). It is a side shrine of Kaike Onsen Jinja (皆生温泉神社 "All Life Hot Springs Shrine"), and in addition to two life-sized stone foxes, there's also eight tiny porcelain foxes watching over this shrine.

By the way, in case you're wondering about the Kanji on the sides of the Torii, these are the names of the people, families and/or companies who donated that particular Torii. They also usually feature the donation date (written in Kanji too) on the back.
 

🡻Nagahama - Tottori/Shimane🡹

This is just a marker post. All shrines before this post were in Nagahama, and all Shrines until the next marker are in Tottori or Shimane (my home base for this next segment was near the border, so these are a bit mixed.)