Fushimi Inari
Ami, Brian, Julie and James
Some people may ask, “ What is important about shrines?”. We are learning about shrines because we live in Japan and we might use this information in the future. We are also learning about Bunka. We are learning about Japanese culture when we learn about Shinto shrines. Shintoism is the only Japanese religion besides Buddhism. We are learning this because we might like this religion. Shinto shrines are good for worship. We are learning about the Fushmi Inari Shrine because of the Rice God. Shinto has a lot of meaning if people look deep inside.
Some shines are farther away than others and
some are closer. It is located in Fushimi near Kyoto. You could take a train
there because it is five minutes from Kyoto station. It is close to Katoda. Our
shrine is partly on Mt. Inari. The shrine is around the base of a mountain. You
may find hills around it. There are many Human Characteristics connected to
Fushimi Inari Shrine. They keep big red torii in front of the main building. The
torii are different colors. There are mini shrines on the way up the mountain.
There are kanji on the torii so people know who caused the torii to be built.
Some of the torii are decorated. At the main building they have prayers on a
stick. There are a few Nature Characteristics around our shrine. There are
mountains around our shrine. They have many different trees. On top of the
mountain, there is a big lake. They have have many different sizes of trees.
Most of the animals were birds. They have a lot of plants. The Shinto religion
is an interesting subject.
Our precious shrine is filled with Shinto
faith. Here are four beliefs of Shinto: nice people have festivals or matsuri,
they have a love of nature because they think that the land is sacred and nature
is sacred; they care about the traditions and family; and they have physical
cleanliness. Like when people enter a shrine, they wash their hands to stay
pure. They also changed the location of the shrine from the top of Mt. Inari to
the bottom of Mt. Inari to stay pure. Another belief is that Shinto people
believe that spirits exist like Inari-san, the rice god/spirit. Spirits can be
trees, wind, stones, dead people and living people- if they’re possessed. People
believe that the sun is a sun goddess. They believe that Amaterasu, the Sun
Goddess is more important than other gods. She is known as the Ruler of Heaven.
This next part is about how the sun came about. Night came when Amaterasu she
hid in the Cave of Heaven because her brother, Susanowo, treated her badly. So
one day, the other gods organized a party to draw the Goddess Amaterasu’s
attention and it became day. Finally, this is the compare and contrast part
between Shinto and Buddhism. Many people practice both Shinto and Buddhism.
Shinto people celebrate people of the living. Buddhist people celebrate about
people of the dead.
All shrines have many torii gates in all sorts of different commodities. Did you know that there are more than 30,000 Inari Shrines but our absorbing Fushimi Inari Shrine is the most popular out of all multitudinous Inari Shrines? Fushimi Inari Shrine is also the most important out of all the other Inari shrines. The shrine is also the biggest. The Fushimi Inari Shrine was first built on top of Mt. Inari in 711 CE and then was moved down to the foot of the mountain. The shrine was built for Inari the Rice Goddess. The Fushimi Inari shrine has more than 10,000 torii gates! The torii gates go in two big long paths over hills to the top of Mt. Inari. At the entrance, there are two guards on each side. That wraps it up for the importance on the Fushimi Inari Shrine.
By Ami, Julie, James and Brian