Kyoto’s Dazzling Fushimi-Inari Shrine is Now Even More Dazzling
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Dazzling Colors at the under-renovation Fushimi Inari Shrine (伏見稲荷大社) Kyoto, Japan -- Fushimi-Inari Taisha (伏見稲荷大社) -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/1250 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos
Dazzling Colors
at the under-renovation Fushimi Inari Shrine (伏見稲荷大社)
Kyoto, Japan

Some friends are in town, and I joined them on a visit to the Fushimi Inari Shrine in south-west Kyoto this morning. I'd last visited three years ago (see “Kyoto's Dazzling Fushimi Inari Shrine”, and followups here, here, and here), and it seems that much has changed since: it's undergoing a massive renovation.

Under Construction Entrance Path -- Fushimi-Inari Taisha (伏見稲荷大社) -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/8000 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos
Under Construction
Entrance Path
Hubbub at the Central Court -- Fushimi-Inari Taisha (伏見稲荷大社) -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/3200 sec, f/2.2, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos
Hubbub at the Central Court

The new paint was positively blinding in its richness, including the multi-colored detail seen in the first photo. I think I prefer the weather-beaten look that centuries tend to put on wooden structures, but the fresh-paint brilliance today was interesting and (for me so far) unique.

As it happened, as we arrived, they were taking the wraps off a newly-installed statue...

Still Under Wraps -- Fushimi-Inari Taisha (伏見稲荷大社) -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/3200 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos
Still Under Wraps
Let the Dewrapping Begin -- Fushimi-Inari Taisha (伏見稲荷大社) -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/2500 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos
Let the Dewrapping Begin
Spectators friends from out of town, watching the statue unveiling -- Fushimi-Inari Taisha (伏見稲荷大社) -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/2000 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos
Spectators
friends from out of town, watching the statue unveiling
Sleek New Fox -- Fushimi-Inari Taisha (伏見稲荷大社) -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/1250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos
Sleek New Fox

I'll post more later from when we walked the paths with thousands of shrine gates, but here's one gate that was getting a first/fresh coat of paint....

Gate Maintenance -- Fushimi-Inari Taisha (伏見稲荷大社) -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/2000 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 — map & image datanearby photos
Gate Maintenance
Keeping Within the Lines -- Fushimi-Inari Taisha (伏見稲荷大社) -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2011 Jeffrey Friedl, https://regex.info/blog/
Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 400 — map & image datanearby photos
Keeping Within the Lines

I wrote a bit about gate maintenance in the previous series on this shrine, here.

Continued here...


All 2 comments so far, oldest first...

This is cool, especially since we’ve just visited it! Thanks for sharing.

— comment by Top Lertpanyavit on September 10th, 2011 at 2:09am JST (13 years, 1 month ago) comment permalink

Knowing nothing of the primary religion of Japan am amazed at the number of
gates in each shrine. And am thinking “if they rot in twenty years, why not manuafacture
said gates from another material, less likely to sucumb to the ravages of weather and time?”

Must admit though the stone carvings that you photographed a while back up the hill behind the shop to me are far more durable and positive than the numerous shades of orange for the gates.

And in my own world have just placed my own grave marker (hopefully well ahead of time) made of black granite for planting of my cremated remains; figured make it the way I want versus what somebody else may desire.

The cemetery where singular me shall be planted allows no above ground monuments so
a stone sculpture is out of the question! Sadly.

— comment by Bryce Lee on September 10th, 2011 at 3:17am JST (13 years, 1 month ago) comment permalink
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