Introducing Inari no Kami

Within the broad pantheon of kami in Japanese Shinto, one of the most popular, if not the most popular, is a kami named Inari. In Japanese, this Kami is sometimes known as Inari no Kami (稲荷神) and is associated with commerce, rice and even as a major protector of Buddhism. Over 30,000 shrines in Japan, the largest number, are devoted to Inari alone, and Inari has a great influence in popular culture, past and present.

Inari was originally associated with rice and harvests, whom peasants made many offerings to for a successful crop, and this is still true today. Even now, you can still many, many shrines to Inari in rural areas. Larger shrines often feature a pair of fox statues at the entrance so Inari was thought by Westerners to be a “fox god”. Inari is said to employ foxes as messengers bearing offerings, but is not a “god of foxes” per se. Over time Inari’s influence extended into commerce so much so that even major corporations in Japan pay homage. The cosmetic company Shiseido has a shrine to Inari at the top of its headquarters with a big red torii gate on top. Even when you go to a Japanese restaurant in the West, the popular Inari-zushi food is associated with Inari, because it was thought in the old days that foxes (messengers of Inari) liked fried tofu, and the corners of the sushi look like pointed fox-ears too.

One aspect I was not aware was Inari no Kami’s role as a protector in Buddhism especially Shingon Buddhism. According to this helpful book on Shinto, when the founder of the Shingon sect, Kūkai, was tasked with administration of the temple of Tōji in Kyoto, he selected an minor Kami named Inari as the temple protector. As stated in a previous post, this came at a time when Shinto and Buddhism blended a lot with the emphasis on protecting the State. As Tōji was one of two official temples guarding the Capitol from evil spirits, protection was paramount. Overnight the local Kami achieved greater status and veneration of Inari increased rapidly, while the home Shinto shrine, now Fushimi Inari Taisha grew into one of the most important shrines in Japan. Like another Kami named Hachiman, Inari was absorbed into Buddhism as a protector, and the role remains today. Under this role, Inari is known as a Bodhisattva named Dakiniten (荼吉尼天).

This picture from Wikipedia shows a nice example of this syncretism:

But Inari’s cultural influence extends into many facets of life, including the mundane. In the tragic autobiography of a bath-house geisha, Sayo Masuda, she talks about how rural bath-house geishas dealt with unwanted pregnancies:

Time passed, and after the flower-viewing season was over, I realized that I was pregant. Damn! What was I going to do now? I went to ask Elder Sister Karuta’s advice:

“You know, there’s nothing so pitiful as the sight of a geisha whose pregnant. You can’t dance with that big belly. What you do is go to the Inari Shrine by the station every day for twenty-one days. Vow that you will donate a lantern if you miscarry. And every day, whenever you have a chance, try jumping off the edge of the veranda.”

While heartbreaking to hear it reflects Inari no Kami’s popularity among regular Japanese, as a kind of helper for difficult times. Many stories and folktales from medieval Japan reflect Inari’s role in helping the main character get out of a bind at the right time, similar to how the Greek Goddess Athena helped heroes with difficult challenges. Both were immensely popular for this reason. I find it interesting to see how one Shinto kami, or deity in general, becomes so many things to so many people, and as Inari is not well-known in the West the same way that someone like Amaterasu is, it’s something to easily overlook when in Japan.