Ninety seconds on Fushimi Inari-taisha
Climb past the packed lower gates: higher up they thin out through cool forest, the crowds drop away, and at the Yotsutsuji crossroads Kyoto opens out below you.
The walk starts at the Romon, the great vermilion main gate, and runs past the main hall, where you can make a small offering. Behind it begins the Senbon Torii, or Thousand Torii: two dense, parallel rows of gates, the tightest stretch on the mountain. Every gate was given by a company, a family or a worshipper, and carries the donor's name and the date on its back.
They end at the Okuno-in, the inner prayer hall. In its back right-hand corner stands a pair of stone lanterns. Make a wish and lift the stone top: the custom says that if it feels lighter than you expected, the wish will come true.
From there the gates climb Mount Inari up stone steps, past small shrines stacked with miniature torii and guarded by stone foxes. After thirty to forty-five minutes you reach Yotsutsuji, where the trail splits into a loop to the summit. Little changes beyond it and the gates grow sparse, which is why many walkers turn back here.
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