Nara-shi · JP

Horeninaridaimyojin

Horen Inari Shrine (法蓮稲荷大明神, Horen Inari Dai Myojin) is a small, moss-grown Inari shrine hidden on the wooded hill behind Nara High School, sharing its quiet precinct with the better-known Hitachi Shrine. Reached up a flight of stone steps past a row of vermilion torii, it enshrines Toyouke no Okami, the kami of food, agriculture and livelihood, long honoured by local residents for prosperity, good fortune and protection from fire. The shrine's charm lies partly in its unusual history: venerated here since antiquity, it was moved to this spot in 1883 when its original hilltop site was declared the imperial tomb of a crown prince of Emperor Shomu, leaving its vermilion torii and stone guardian figures nestled among the trees beside Hitachi's own grounds.