Inari, or O-Inari-san, is the Shinto god of rice. He’s often depicted with a few foxes — his messengers — so it’s not surprising that shrines dedicated to O-Inari-san overflow with fox statues and trinkets. Sasuke Inari Shrine, Kamakura’s shrine dedicated to O-Inari-san, is no different, with foxes here, there and everywhere; in every nook and cranny of the forested hillside shrine.
One of Kyoto’s best-known shrines — Fushimi Inari Taisha — is the head Inari shrine, famous for its many (many, many, many) vermillion torii leading to the main shrine grounds. While Sasuke Inari Shrine’s torii aren’t as numerous (according to An English Guide to Kamakura’s Temples and Shrines, there are “as many as 40”), they’re still quite something to behold.
As for its origins, Iso Mutsu wrote in Kamakura: Fact and Legend, “Legend relates that during the early days of the first shogun, while he was still in seclusion at Hirugashima (Izu) the fox messenger of Inari appeared to Yoritomo, predicting that the scene of his future glory lay at Kamakura; hence the erection of this shrine.”
Founded: ~1195
Festivals: Hatsu Uma Matsuri ・ 初午祭 (First Horse Zodiac Festival), to pray for a good harvest in the coming year, celebrated on the first horse day of February (2018 will be Feb 7)
鎌倉ペンション・Inn By The Sea Kamakura 