Thursday, August 03, 2006

Episode 1 - Fox Attraction

















Fox Attraction

This photo shows the famous red torii (holy gates) of the Inari Shrine in Kyoto, Japan.

The holy gates are built so close to each other that they form a red tunnel. There are 2 tunnels of this kind standing side by side in the Shrine. When sun ray passes through the gaps between these holy gates, it creates a strange sphere of red light from within the tunnel.

After passing through the red tunnels, there is a road leading to the hill at the back of the Shrine. This road will eventually lead you back to the entrance of the Shrine. At the end of the route, there are a large number of strange statues (in forms of leg, hand, eye or gods of different religions). As I understand it from my Japanese friend, this is a Shrine of the Fox Spirit. I guess that it represents that the Fox Spirit can turn itself into every form one can imagine.

(see Episode Six for more on Inari)



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