The Fushimi Inari hike: the mountain trail by day and at night

The trail is not a side attraction added to a shrine; the shrine owns the mountain. The whole of Inariyama is counted as part of the precinct, and the hill itself is a 233 m holy mountain, one of the southernmost of the 36 Higashiyama mountains.^7,1 A pathway leads to the top with several thousand red torii along the way, and the shrine counts over 10,000 otsuka worship stones on the mountain.^8,9

Inariyama is also called Mitsugamine for its three peaks in an east-to-west row.¹⁰ From nearest to farthest the peaks are Sannomine, Ninomine and Ichinomine, and Ichinomine is the highest at 233 m.^11,2 That ordering is the clearest map you will get: you climb through the lowest peak first and finish at the top, then walk the loop back.

A shrine once stood at the summit but burned down in the Onin Rebellion in the 15th century, and only a shinseki, a sacred stone marker, remains there now.¹² So the top is a quiet place of stones and small altars, not a building. Go for the walk and the views on the way, and treat the summit as the turning point, not the reward.

Plan around the rule first: eating or drinking outside marked free rest areas, including while walking or standing, is prohibited on the shrine grounds.²⁴ On a two-to-three-hour walk that makes the rest areas the schedule. JNTO's hiking guide describes a three-hour walk with many small shrines and stands selling tasty food for those who could use a break.²¹

About halfway there is a souvenir shop and tea stall selling snacks, drinks and ice cream.⁵ The shrine has also built Teichoan, a rest area with a cafe and terrace beside Yashimagaike Pond, which opened in December 2017.²⁵ Time your stops there rather than eating on the move, and buy water at the foot of the mountain, since it is a long way back down.

Rubbish and rules go together. Smoking and fires are prohibited, drones may not be flown, pets are not allowed except guide dogs and other necessary animals, and blocking worshippers on narrow paths to take photographs is prohibited.^26,27,28,29 On the upper trail, where the path is a single lane in places, the photography rule is the one you will actually meet.

People search for Fushimi Inari at night because the gates look different when the tourist crowds have gone. JR West says the shrine is never closed to the public, and JNTO says it can be visited at any time of the day, so there is no gate to be turned away from.^32,33 What changes is how far it is sensible to go.

A guided option exists for the cautious. A 2-hour night walk meets at the fox statue at the main entrance, costs from $41, has an English-speaking live guide, and has 257 reviews rated 4.92. The guide shares details by message, so check your phone before you leave the hotel.

If you go alone, stay on the main tunnel and do not push on to the summit without a torch. The Senbon Torii and Okusha Hohaisho are the stretches the shrine describes best, so they make a complete evening on their own.^13,16 Leave the upper loop for a morning when you can see the markers and the steps.