We didn't dream it all!

[telophase]

gryfeathr's in Kyoto now, and I gave her directions to the mysterious kitsune shrine rachelmanija and I found. After a phone email of "We can't find it!" that had me wondering how much more mysterious this shrine could get, she and her companion/s managed to find it, and she sent me a picture from her phone.





Slightly less overgrown at the moment than when we were there at the end of summer, but still nicely mysterious. :D You can see the two torii gates and the small wooden shelter with benches, and then the kitsune statue just beyond it. The hill-like structure with the mysterious wooden door chained shut is just beyond that, but you can't see it here.

ETA: Rachel links to our reports of the shrine and the photo gallery of it in this post.

Comments

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

The username doesn't exist...

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I misspelled it. gryfeathr

[vom-marlowe.livejournal.com]

Say.....I hit the Joann on Saturday. I picked up two faux-furs. They had a plain and nice enough off-white fur. They also had this silvery fox fake fur that is as soft as chinchilla. It just feels *amazing*. Much more fur-like. BUT, it's not as xxxHolic-y. Could be more fox-like though. Whatcha think?

[telophase.livejournal.com]

OoooooOOooOooOooooo. Sounds great! :D Thanks! :D

[sovay]

That's beautiful.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

It was an unexpected magical little experience. :D

[onthehill]

Oooh I'm going to find it too - I'm off to Kyoto at the end of March! Spooky appearing Kitsune <3

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Cool! :D

The basic directions are:

1) go to the Giouji Temple (http://www.giouji.or.jp) in Arashimaya. There's a map on the site, but it may be easier to just grab a cab. Go visit the temple and marvel at the gorgeous moss gardens (optional, but highly recommended).

2) After visiting the temple, exit. It's on a small street that dead-ends into the temple. Walk back down that street until it hits the cross-street.

3) Turn left. There may be signs nearby pointing the way down the left to a doll museum. That's the direction you want to go. Walk down the street a short way. You'll find, on the left side, a small craft-selling place with a few small buildings that have very nice but expensive pottery and other crafts. Go poke around in there (optional but recommended if you like looking at that sort of thing).

4) Keep walking down the street. Just after the craft-shops area, still on the left, is a clump of trees. There's a concrete torii with rocks on top, and a little further in, two orange torii gates. That's the shrine. It's not too far from Giouji Temple, just a couple minutes' walk, and it may even be across the street from the doll museum.

[gryfeathr.livejournal.com]

The mistake I and my friends made was assuming it was much further down the road then it was; if you hit the doll museum, it really should be right there. Downright lovely air about it when you hit it; you walk in, and you feel as if the statues are staring. My friends and I left a coin or two behind, just for luck. :)

[telophase.livejournal.com]

We made sure to leave coins behind after sticking the camera into the doorway and trying and failing to take a photo of what was in there. XD

I am totally going to make everyone I know who goes to Kyoto go see this shrine. XD

[gryfeathr.livejournal.com]

We totally did the same thing, only this time, COMPLETE DARKNESS. Also, the kitsune statues looked like they would like round little 5-en coins.

It actually reminded me a little of Ryoko from Tenchi Muyo!, who was trapped behind a gate in the rock. (Old school, I know!)

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I wonder if anyone will ever be able to get a photo inside there? OOooooooOOooOOoooOOOO

And then there's Tora, from Ushio and Tora, who was pinned with a spear behind a small door in a shrine for 500 years...

[gryfeathr.livejournal.com]

*laughs* I wasn't expecting a blog post about it! It was quite an adventure; part of our wandering around lead us up another hill lined with small shops, and herded into this small shop perched up on top of a mountain by a very enthusiastic woman, where a local made adorable little things out of silk cacoons. We asked about a small place with kitsune statues, and got many confused looks. It was only on our last turn back down the street, with me determined to find it, that we finally noticed it. I swear we missed it every time before! There were some battered coins left behind once more; we left a few new ones ourselves. The gate didn't have names on it this time, but I'm fairly certain the statues around it are individuals enshrined as gods, a tactic usually reserved for appeasing rather upset ghosts causing trouble, or perhaps people from the nearby Buddhist shrines, as I'm sure you've read.

It was well worth the trek!

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Hee! I got enough comments from people interested in it on my previous posts that I figured they'd appreciate knowing someone else has seen it, too. :D

Ah, interesting! That adds another layer of mystery and fascination to this shrine. :D

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

OoooooOOoooo....