Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Obata Ebisu Shrine & Inari Shrine


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Obata is a small fishing port just north of Hagi. Like virtually every fishing harbor in Japan there is a small shrine to Ebisu, the patron kami of fishermen.

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However, running fromn the side of the shrine is a path running up the hillside lined with red torii, a sure sign of an Inari Shrine.

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Halfway up the path was one, and then further up another. It is possible to find single Inari shrines, but more often their will be several. Inari, like Buddhas, are in a sense "universal" deities, but in Japan they are often localized with specific local identities.

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The Inari ( or other kami or Buddha) will have different local manifestations, so you have, for instance, hundreds of different Inari shrines at the main Inari shrine near Kyoto, Fushimi Inari.

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