(520) Foxes at Dogo-Inari-jinja Shrine [調べる]
Photo 1: 2020/11/25 Photo 2: 2020/11/25
There is a vermillion Inari-jinja shrine next to the fourth hot-water-delivering facility of Dogo Hot spring. The Dogo Inari shrine was rebuilt 2018, so, it is very new now.
By the way, can you read the letter carved on the stones beneath the stone fox statues?
They read 献 奉, that is, "奉献" meaning "dedication".
Photo 3: 献の字体 Photo 4: 奉の字体
Photo 5: 2020/11/25 Photo 6: 2020/11/25
Two fox (kitsune) stone statues sit in front of the shrine. One has a scroll and the other has a ball of jewel called "hoju (宝珠)" in its mouth. In addition, on the top of their tails "hoju" is put.
It is said that the ball of jewel symbolizes a warehouse of grain and the scroll is the symbol of wisdom. Kitsune, a fox is a real animal but is considered supernatural in Japan. Kitsune is the object of worship of Inari Shinko, an old folk religion.
Photo 7: 2020/11/25
You can see hoju gem (宝珠) mark on the stone base of the fox statues, which resembles Yudama (a bubbling hot water image 湯玉) of Dogo hot spring.
Photo 8: Yudama on Dogo Onsen main building 2018/11/22
Long ago the deities of Fushimi-Inari were enshrined in Matsuyama. Dogo-Inari-jinja shrine was relocate here in Meiji 42 (1909). The main deity of the shrine is Ukanomitana-no-Kami, Goddess of food and agriculture. Inari was originally and remains primarily the kami of rice and agriculture, but merchants and manufacturers also worship Inari as the patron of business.
Poto 9: Wooden sitting statue of Ukanomitamano-mikoto
According to myth, Inari, as a goddess, was said to have comet to Japan at the time of its creation amidst a harsh famine that struck the land. "She [Inari] descended from Heaven riding on a white fox, and her hand she carried sheaves of cereal or grain.
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