"Turtle Stone? Should we go over and take a look?" Tsuchimami asked.
"Okay." Upon hearing this, Yushan Heren couldn't help but shrugged. It was a good choice to go for a walk and see what the Turtle Stone looked like.
Hearing this, several people changed direction and walked towards the Turtle Stone.
When they reached the Kamo River, Doma Yui finally saw the true appearance of the Turtle Stone.
To be honest, when he was far away from it, Domama actually mistook this turtle stone for a big turtle.
However, after a closer look, Tsuchima realized how wrong she was.
"Do you want to go to the other side of the river and take a look?" Looking at the turtle rock in front of her, Kato Megumi suddenly asked.
She could see that Tsuchima Yui and the others were very interested in the turtle stone, and Kato Megumi herself also wanted to experience the feeling of jumping like a turtle across the river.
Chapter 2446 Thousand Torii Gates
Some people say that jumping turtle is a very surprising thing.
Because every time I jump the turtle and reach the other side of the river, I will discover different beautiful scenery.
However, the view of this section of Kamo River is very good. Even if you jump over the turtle stone and reach the other side, there is actually no special scenery. After jumping over the turtle stone, several people chose to turn back.
After all, the goal for tonight is relatively clear. If we go the other way, we don’t know when we will meet Turtle Stone again and jump over.
Of course, it is not impossible to walk across the bridge, but since they have already experienced turtle jumping once and it felt great, now they have the opportunity to jump over the turtle and return, which they certainly will not miss.
……
After walking along the Kamo River for more than half an hour, they saw the road leading to Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine.
When you come to Kansai for a school trip, Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine is obviously a must-visit.
Tomorrow, the school will organize students to visit Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine.
Some people may ask, since the school will organize a sightseeing trip tomorrow, why do we still have to go for a walk in Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine tonight.
The reason is simple. The visits organized by the school are actually a bit superficial.
Going on a school trip is like joining a tour group. Often, there isn’t enough time to visit.
However, if you go to Fushimi Inari Taisha during your free time, you can enjoy the scenery of the shrine at will.
After crossing the trail, a magnificent shrine appeared in front of Yushan and his companions.
At night, when the lights come on, the entire shrine is lit up, making the entire shrine much brighter.
Under the light, the gentleman, who was already very elegant and graceful, suddenly looked even more noble.
As the head shrine of more than 30,000 Inari shrines in Japan, there is no need to say much about the financial strength of Fushimi Inari Taisha.
However, tonight, Yushan and his companions did not plan to enter the shrine to appreciate its various buildings and beautiful scenery. Instead, they walked straight towards the Thousand Torii Gates.
The Senbon Torii is a group of torii gates stretching for thousands of meters. When the school organizes a visit, it is obvious that they will not leave enough time for the students to have a complete visit.
At most, you will stand in front of the torii gate, briefly explain the history of the Thousand Torii gates and some basic information, and then head to the next location.
After all, there are quite a lot of activities in the entire school trip, and it takes more than an hour just to pass through the Thousand Torii Gates. The school will definitely not spend so much time on visiting the Thousand Torii Gates.
Standing in front of the Thousand Torii gates that were so densely packed that they seemed to be endless, Yushan and the others couldn't help but look at each other, and then they felt a little more determined in their hearts.
Although the entire Torii tunnel is very long, so long that it seems a little unbelievable, but if you think about it carefully, it is only three or four kilometers.
Kazuto Hayama and Megumi Kato walk ten kilometers every morning for morning exercise. A distance of three or four kilometers is just a piece of cake for them.
The others might be a little weaker in terms of physical strength, but it was obviously no problem for them to walk a few kilometers.
Standing in front of the Torii gate and looking at the words "Inari Omikami" in the center, Yushan and the others bowed slightly and saluted.
Although most people do not really believe in the existence of gods, since Inari God is a symbol of nature, it is okay to pay respect to him.
After all, no matter what, people must maintain a certain awe and gratitude towards nature.
After the greetings, everyone took a deep breath and walked into the mountain trail.
All the Torii gates are built along the main approach to Mt. Inari.
In fact, there are more than 10,000 torii gates in the entire Inari Mountain, and the Thousand Torii gates account for less than half of the total number of torii gates in the entire Inari Mountain, only about one-third.
The overall distribution of torii gates is not very uniform. After all, these torii gates were not built in one go, but were the result of decades of accumulation, slow enshrinement, additions and construction.
"So, the entire Thousand Torii Gate was built with donations from believers?" After listening to Yushan Kazuto's explanation and introduction, Doma Mai couldn't help but speak.
"Well, you can say that in the beginning, it was some companies and groups that dedicated the Torii, and gradually believers became the main force of the worship." Yushan Kazuto nodded.
As to whether there has ever been a situation like "the gentry's money was returned in full, and the people's money was divided 30% to 70%", it is unknown.
However, since such a wonder has been built, not many people would care about it.
"So, there's no money required to pay for the shrine?" Rikka Takanashi said naively.
"How can we possibly pay for building torii? Shrines make money." Upon hearing this, Yushan Kazuto shrugged.
The cheapest torii gate costs 170,000 yen. However, in reality, the cost of the torii gate, plus the labor cost for installation, only costs 50,000 yen at most.
It is just like when you go to a Buddhist temple to worship Buddha statues. Although you feel that you are serving the Buddha, in fact, the monks are the ones who make the most money.
Hearing this, Rikka Takanashi couldn't help but blink slightly.
This situation is completely different from what she imagined!
You can often see fox statues on the road.
In Kyoto, foxes are regarded as messengers of the god Inari, but in some other places, the fox is replaced by raccoon dog, which is commonly known as raccoon cat in Japan.
The status of raccoon cats in Japanese mythology is relatively high. In many places, raccoon cats are regarded as messengers of God or even as the incarnation of God.
"How about it, do you need a break?" Walking to a statue, Yushan Kazuto couldn't help but glance at Fujinomiya Ningzi.
Yushan and Ren are not worried about the others, except for Fujinomiya Ningzi, who needs to be kept under constant attention.
"Then let's take a break." After looking at Yushan Heren, although Fujinomiya Ningzi felt that she could still hold on, since Yushan Heren took the initiative to mention rest, Fujinomiya Ningzi would not object to him.
"The fox in this statue seems a little different." Standing in front of the statue and looking at this slightly strange shape, Tsuchima couldn't help but speak.
"This should be a statue of a raccoon cat." Upon hearing this, Yushan Heren spoke.
"Raccoon?" Upon hearing this, Tsuchima Mai couldn't help but blink her beautiful eyes. The raccoon cat statues she had seen before were all of the more abstract types.
"Looking at the ears, if the ears are round, it's usually a raccoon cat." Yushan Heren said.
"This statue must be quite old. Tanuki are now worshipped as gods in shrines, but the situation might have been different when this statue was first built."
Chapter 2447: Mountaintop Shrine
"Maybe, in the beginning, all the messengers of the Inari God faith were raccoon cats!" Yushan Kazuto said with a smile.
In fact, this possibility is not small. Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain why the Inari messenger worshipped in some areas is a raccoon cat.
Some people say that foxes prey on mice, so in order to ensure a good harvest, foxes were made the messengers of the Inari god.
However, civet cats also prey on mice, and their hunting skills are even better than those of foxes.
Therefore, there is absolutely no problem in applying the same reasoning to raccoon cats.
In addition, in Japanese Shintoism, the belief in raccoon cats is actually a relatively common thing. In many cases, raccoon cats are even regarded as the incarnation of gods playing in the mortal world.
Therefore, Hayama Kazuto thought that perhaps the first statue to replace the Komainu statue in front of the gate of Inari Shrine should be the raccoon cat.
However, due to the gradual decline of the belief in raccoon cats and the emergence of some fox fairy legends, the Fushimi Inari Shrine gradually replaced the raccoon cat statues with fox statues.
Of course, this is just Yushan Kazuto's personal opinion, and he has not done any in-depth research.
There is also a legend that the belief in Inari God came from the immigrants - the Qin family.
This statement is not without reason. After all, Fushimi Inari Okami was established by Qin.
Before coming to Japan, the Qin family took root in what is now the Korean Peninsula and the northeastern region of China.
In these areas, there is a belief in fox spirits, so it is possible that the Qin family was influenced by the belief in fox spirits in these places, so they set up a fox statue in front of the Fushimi Inari Shrine.
But this doesn't make sense. After all, when Fushimi Inari Shrine was first built, the entrance had the same Komainu statue as the shrine, which was gradually replaced later.
If the Qin family was influenced by the fox fairy beliefs in the Korean Peninsula and northeastern China, they should have used fox statues directly when they first built the shrine.
After all, after coming to Japan, the Qin family would inevitably be influenced by some local culture. If the belief in fox fairies was not passed down in time, after a few generations, perhaps most of the Qin family members would have no concept of fox fairies.
What's more, when the Qin family sailed to Japan, the belief in fox spirits might not have existed yet!
After all, according to Chinese records, the earliest belief in fox fairies should be the auspicious fox culture during the Northern Wei Dynasty.
It is said that the Qin family crossed the sea to the east during the reign of Emperor Ojin, which was more than a hundred years earlier than the establishment of the Northern Wei Dynasty.
However, these legends are so complicated and mixed with many myths that there is actually no need to trace their origins.
All you need to know is that most of the statues in Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine today are foxes, but there are also a small number of raccoon cat statues.
Listening to Yushan Kazuto's explanation, Doma Mai found it very interesting. If she had just come here for school, no one would explain to her the changes in beliefs.
However, seeing that Yushan Kazuto was talking with great excitement, Tsuchima Mai couldn't help but say, "Senior Kazuto, if you make up stories about the Fox God like this, be careful that the Fox God will come looking for you at night!"
"Come on, I was afraid it wouldn't come!" Hearing what Tsuchiya Yui said, Yushan Kazuto couldn't help but smile.
Upon hearing this, Tsuchiya Mai couldn't help but blink her beautiful eyes, and no one knew what she was thinking.
"How have you rested? If you've rested enough, let's continue." After looking around, Yushan Heren spoke.
The distance to the Thousand Torii Gates is quite long. Generally speaking, even if you walk fast, it will take at least an hour to complete the whole journey. If you walk slowly, it may take two hours or even more.
In some tour plans, the visiting time of the Thousand Torii Gates is even set at five hours.
Of course, this is the time it takes for a round trip, but five hours is indeed a bit exaggerated.
It is definitely impossible for Yushan and his group to walk for so long. After all, there will be a roll call in the hotel before 10 o'clock in the evening, and everyone needs to return to the dormitory before this time.
However, it was already half past seven, and they had only walked one-third of the distance. It would take another half an hour to walk out of the Thousand Torii Gates and along the downhill trail to where they could take a bus.
In terms of time, it is still quite tight.
"I've had a good rest!" Kato Megumi stood up and said.
"Although I still want to hear you explain the story of the Thousand Torii Gates, time is tight now, so let's get up and continue climbing the mountain." Fujinomiya Ningzi also stood up and stretched.
After these words were spoken, Doma Mai, Touma Sanae, and Takanashi Rikka all looked at Fujinomiya Ningzi with a somewhat wary expression.
However, Yushan Kazuto and Kato Megumi did not react. They were no longer surprised by Fujinomiya Ningko's behavior.
……
In the first half, there were quite a lot of people traveling together, but in the second half, the number of tourists gradually decreased.
After all, not everyone can endure a mountain trail that is several kilometers long.
Moreover, many people come to Fushimi Inari Taisha by car, and on the way back, they have to go back along the same route.
If you really walk back and forth, it will take at least two or three hours, if not five hours.
When they reached the top of the mountain, Domama and his companions couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, as they had finally completed this journey.
But looking at the steps ahead, Tsuchima couldn't help but blink slightly.
Eye: "Is there any road ahead?"
"That's the way down the mountain. We can take a shortcut down the mountain," said Yushan Heren.
"That...that's good, death!" Toumori Sanae couldn't help but say.
"Okay, everyone, take a short rest and then get ready to go down the mountain." Yushanhe said.
After listening to Yushan Kazuto's words, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and even Kato Megumi felt a little relieved.
I took a look at the Suehiro Shrine on the top of the mountain. Although it is not small in scale, there is still a certain gap compared with the Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine at the foot of the mountain.
Everyone looked at each other and decided to pay a brief respect.
Although everyone knows that in the next few days, the entire itinerary will probably be full of shrines, there will definitely be quite a few shrines that need to be visited, and you may feel like vomiting from visiting the shrines.
However, after all the hard work of climbing to the top of the mountain, everyone still felt as if they had suffered a bit of a loss if they didn't even go into the shrine.
The shrine was still open, but there were no priests or shrine maidens there.
After all, the priests and priestesses nowadays are a little different from those in ancient times. They are all workers, and it is definitely impossible for them to go to work so late.
Walking into the courtyard of the shrine, everyone saw the bright moon hanging high in the sky. The bright moonlight sprinkled on the shrine, and the bright reflection of the shrine made everyone feel that the trip was worthwhile.
