Kifune Jinja

皆さん, こんにちは! Minasan, konnichiwa! Hello everyone! 🌸

Earlier this week, I went to the Kifune shrine with a friend. Since it is located in Kibune, a small town in northern Kyoto, we had little hope of discovering early cherry blossoms. However, it was a bit early for that. But it shouldn't take too long until everything is full of pink flowers. Even if we could not discover any yet, our little trip was worth it. 👍

We took the train from Demachiyanagi train station to Kibune-Guchi, which took about 30 minutes. The special thing about the trip: some seats were turned to the window so that you could look out without having to turn your head. So you could enjoy the view, even if there wasn't that much to see and the sun was a bit dazzling. I thought it was cool anyway! 🙈

When we arrived in Kibune, we could have taken a bus to the Kifune shrine, but since it was only 2 kilometers away and the weather was nice that day, we decided to walk. 🌞

I can only recommend that, because the path is really nice. It is surrounded by a small river on one side and a forest on the other.

When you arrive at the shrine, you will be greeted by its famous red lanterns. A popular photo spot! 📷

The Kifune shrine is dedicated to the god of water and rain and is considered the protector of people at the sea.

The shrine is built up like others (read my entry about temples and shrines), but here horse statues were built, which is unusual. About that I found out the following:

This shrine was visited by the imperial court in the Heian period. During this time, the imperial court sent official delegations to the shrine and offered horses to the deities as gifts when they prayed for a certain weather. A black horse to ask for rain and a white horse to ask for a clear sky. Due to this tradition, horse statues are still standing at the shrine.

Another peculiarity that I have not seen at too many shrines yet is the type of future telling. The Omikuji work here in the following way: you draw a piece of paper, which you have to put into water. After a short time characters appear and you can read about your future.

I tried this type of omikuji for the first time. The good thing: there is a QR code on each piece of paper, which is used to translate the Omikuji. 😉

The Kifune shrine includes two other shrines, Yui no Yashiro and Okunomiya. We haven't visited them, but I think I'll do that in the future because you can combine that with a little hike. We met some hikers here, but most of them were on the way to Kurama-Temple, a mountain temple in neighboring Kurama.

Since I would like to visit the Kurama Temple as well, I will probably try this route, because sometimes it is nice to escape the hustle of the city and be surrounded by nature. I think this trail will be perfect for that. So stay tuned if you want to hear about that as well! 😉

次回まで! Jikai made! See you next time! 💕