Inari Ōkami and her foxes

稲荷大神

Kami of rice and harvest, attended by white fox messengers

Inari Ōkami, also called Ō-Inari or Oinari-sama, is the Japanese kami of rice and the harvest, honoured at tens of thousands of shrines. Her name is usually traced to ine-nari, "growing rice." Tradition says she took up residence on Mount Inari near Kyoto in 711, and shrine documents identify her with Uka-no-Mitama, a food kami of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki.

Devotees turn to her for good harvests and, over the centuries, for success in business and prosperity. She is patron of merchants and swordsmiths, and is linked with sake, tea and fertility. Worshippers walk beneath her vermilion torii and tie red bibs on her stone foxes, her messengers. In Japanese Buddhism the related figure Dakiniten is honoured at temples such as Myōgonji in Toyokawa.

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A man confronted with an apparition of the Fox goddess. Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

How to recognise Inari Ōkami and her foxes

Sheaves of riceShe carries golden ears of rice in her arms or over her shoulder, the sign of her role as kami of the harvest.
White fox (byakko)A pure white fox stands beside her or carries her; it is her messenger (tsukai), a companion and never Inari herself.
A pair of foxesFox statues at her shrines almost always come as a pair, often read as male and female, with one often holding an object and the other with its mouth open.
Wish-fulfilling jewel (hōju)Look for a pear-shaped jewel topped with flame-like points, held in a fox's mouth or carried by Inari, a prominent symbol of her blessing.
Granary key and scrollA fox may hold the key to the rice granary, standing for the care of the harvest, or a scroll, read as wisdom or a sutra.
Red bib (yodarekake)Worshippers tie red bibs on stone foxes as a mark of respect and good luck.
Vermilion toriiHer shrines are marked by gates of bright vermilion, often in long rows, and by white walls with red woodwork.

Names and titles

Lady of the Rice HarvestInari is the protector of rice cultivation, and the name is usually read as 'growing rice'
Keeper of the White FoxesThe white foxes (byakko) are her messengers and guardians at every Inari shrine
August Spirit of FoodA reading of Uka-no-Mitama, the food kami Inari is identified with in Shinto
Rider of the White FoxMyth says she came down from heaven riding a white fox and carrying grain
Lady of the Thousand ToriiThe famous torii path of Fushimi Inari Taisha, given by individuals and companies

Feast days

Hatsuuma Taisai8 February 2027 (date to be confirmed)

The founding anniversary of Fushimi Inari Taisha. Tradition holds that Inari Ōkami was enshrined on Mount Inari on the first Day of the Horse in 711, and Inari shrines across Japan keep the day.
How it's celebrated. At Fushimi Inari Taisha a morning ceremony is held. Visitors pray for business prosperity and family safety, and many take home lucky cedar sprigs called shirushi no sugi. Fried tofu and inari sushi are offered to the fox statues, Inari's messengers. The calendar varies: Fushimi Inari uses the Horse Day in solar-calendar February, while some Inari shrines, such as Shusse Inari Jinja, keep the lunar-calendar Horse Day.
Sources: Fushimi Inari Taisha: Festivals and Events · Kyoto Travel: Hatsuuma, the First Day of the Horse · Shinto Inari: What is Hatsu-uma?
Inari Matsuri (Shinkō-sai)18 April 2027 (date to be confirmed)

The most important festival of Fushimi Inari Taisha. The shrine's deities are carried out in portable shrines (mikoshi) to a temporary resting place, then brought home again in a second ceremony some days later.
How it's celebrated. The Shinkō-sai sends five mikoshi, carrying the kami's sacred bodies, out to the Ōtabisho resting place in Nishikujo. At the Kankō-sai they return in procession through southern Kyoto, pausing at Tō-ji Temple for an offering. The sacred bodies are then moved back into their sanctuaries inside the shrine.
Sources: Green Shinto: Fushimi Inari festival · What's Up in Kyoto: Inari (Kanko-sai) Festival · What's Up in Kyoto: Inari (Shinko) Festival
Taue-sai10 June, every year

The rice-planting rite at Fushimi Inari Taisha. Seedlings are planted in the shrine's own paddy as a prayer for a good harvest. Inari is revered as a deity of rice and agriculture.
How it's celebrated. Priests, musicians, dancers and planters in historic farm dress gather in the main hall for offerings and a prayer, and the rice and planters are blessed. The procession then goes to the sacred field, where it is purified and planted while shrine maidens dance a kagura. The rice is harvested later in autumn and offered to the deity.
Sources: Discover Kyoto: Taue-sai · What's Up in Kyoto: Nukiho-sai Harvest Festival · JNTO: Japan's festivals and events in June
Hitaki-sai8 November, every year

An autumn fire festival at Fushimi Inari Taisha that gives thanks to Inari for the grain harvest and for blessings upon all living things. Wooden prayer sticks bearing worshippers' wishes are burned.
How it's celebrated. After a ceremony at the main hall, priests cast prayer sticks sent by worshippers from across Japan onto bonfires. They purify each fire with sakaki leaves, salt and water while the Ōharae prayer is chanted. In the evening, mikagura, sacred court music and dance, is offered by firelight. Other Inari shrines also hold fire rites of thanks, though Fushimi Inari's is the best known.
Sources: Kobe Brighten: Fushimi Inari Taisha Hitaki-sai · 2ponderful: Hitaki-sai Fire Festival · Patosan: Hitakisai at Fushimi Inari Taisha

In art and place public-domain and openly licensed images

Kuniyoshi print of a man confronted by the radiant Fox goddess, with a white fox at her side.Wikimedia Commons (public domain)