Fushimi Inari Shrine, Geishas & Maikos @ Kyoto - Japan

We visited Kyoto again and told ourselves that we must explore

Fushimi Inari-Taisha. Their famous Torii paths and bright orange 

arches are too good to miss! Over hundreds of thousands of 

visitors have snapped beautiful photos there. 

 1. This is the illustrated map of the entire Fushimi Inari.

The shrine sits at the base of a mountain also named Inari 

which is 233 metres above sea level.

The entire trails cover up to 4 kilometers & you will see
many smaller shrines along the way. It will take some 2 hours
to cover the whole mountain trails alone as that popular place
would be congested with hundreds of tourists like
you and me!

 2. The main entrance of Fushimi Inari Shrine.

 3. There are many foxes here which are divine messengers to the local beliefs.

In China, their locals actually pray to the divine foxes which are 

believed to bless and enhance their love life.

 4. I did not climb up the entire mountains as I could not

spare another 3 hours. I walked around the base of the mountain
in the lovely cold winter weather.

5. In Kyoto, it is very easy to spot many pretty Maikos

or ladies in their traditional kimono attire.

 6. You could easily spot the real Japanese Maiko and not tourists

from Hong Kong or Malaysia by observing their walking manners.

Aha! Once they opened their mouths to utter their native tongues,

it confirmed their origins!

 7. I only snapped photos of the real Japanese ladies who

are natural, graceful and not camera shy. The other nationalities

would often burst out laughing or ran away. I even spotted

2 African ladies in Kimono but I was too stunned to remember

my camera.

 8. My wife captured these Japanese ladies having their tea.

They were so soft spoken and constantly bowed to each other.

 They are so unbelievably polite!

 9. I am sharing my old photos of real Geishas reporting for work

at the Gion areas of Kyoto during my visit in year 2012.

10. All the Geishas in Gion would normally be accompanied

by a chaperone who would guide & usher them to the

private tea houses to entertain the special clients. The best time
to look out for them are during the evenings till night when
the businessmen would flock to that area for sake drinks,
private instrumental music and dance performance by them.

 11. This was captured by my wife's compact DSLR which zoomed in

the photography shoot of a Geisha inside the Arashiyama Bamboo

Groves recently in late February 2016.

 12. You may think she dressed funny but I believed that attire was

a modern design for some festive posters or fashion magazines.

 13. I found more Gesiha shots taken in 2012 at the famous

Kiyomizudera Temple which is close by to the Gion in Kyoto.

 They would always excite tourists and make heads turn

with their graceful presence.

That's all folks. Hope you enjoyed their beauty.

***