Komyoin Inari Shrine

This small Inari shrine once protected Komyoin Temple, a Tendai Esoteric Buddhist temple founded in 1240 on this site. After the 1868 government order to separate Shinto and Buddhism, Komyoin was merged into what became Rinnoji Temple. The shrine itself remained, dedicated to Inari, the kami of rice, commerce, and material prosperity. Inari is also known as Dakiniten, a fox-riding Buddhist goddess. The fox, Inari's messenger, traditionally holds a key representing the rice storehouse. Look closely at the shrine's doors, roof tiles, and above the main entrance for wish-granting jewels, depicted as orbs with pointed tops and emanating circles.