Fushimi Inari torii hike

Fushimi Inari Taisha is the head shrine of Inari, the deity of rice and prosperity, honoured at tens of thousands of smaller shrines across Japan. Its famous tunnels are made of vermilion torii donated by businesses and families, each with the donor's name painted on the back. Stone foxes, Inari's messengers, guard the paths with keys or scrolls in their mouths. The gates do not stop at the photogenic stretch near the entrance; they continue right up the slopes of Mount Inari.

That climb is the point of the 2.5-hour option, which departs from either Kyoto Station or Osaka Namba. Most visitors turn around within the first section of gates, but this route keeps going past the lookout over Kyoto toward the upper loop, where the tunnel becomes quiet and the small sub-shrines are thick with miniature torii. The 8-hour option continues to Kiyomizu-dera and the lanes of Gion, while the 10-hour day adds Nara and Arashiyama.

The shrine grounds never close, and early morning or late afternoon light through the gates is softer and the paths emptier. Expect a lot of stone steps on the upper loop, gentle in places and steep in others, with small teahouses for a rest along the way. Summer is humid under the trees, so carry water. Most people come down with a phone full of orange tunnels and a fox-shaped ema prayer plaque.