Inuyama a Japanese History Book, Inuyama, Japan (B)

Strolling by the Kiso River that runs through Inuyama a small town in Japan I paused to watch some cormorants drying their wings in the sun. Safe in the knowledge they would not be working that night as the cormorant fishing season was over they looked relaxed and content. I was on my way to the old castle town to visit Inuyama Castle. The path up to the castle perched on the summit of a hill, took me through two shrines. I entered the Sanko Inari Shrine through several red torii gates. These gates are a typical feature of Inari shrines. There are thousands of these shrines in Japan dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice. Pure white foxes guard the gates often holding keys or rolled up messages in their mouths. They are the messengers of Inari and are generally thought to be helpful. However, there are rumours that they can bewitch as well. There is a small pond inside this shrine and it is said that money washed it its water will double in value. It didn’t.

A statue of a white horse stands guard in the Haritsuna Shrine. Horses are very significant in the Shinto religion as they are considered to be intermediaries between this world and the kami – the main objects of worship for this faith. White horses often perform at Shinto festivals known as matsuri. Every spring the Inuyama-matsuri Festivalis celebrated at the Haritsuna-jinja Shrine. This festival started in 1635 and features large mulit-storey floats. In the evenings these floats are lit with hundreds of Japanese lanterns. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).