| DATE: | June 10, 2006, Begins at 13:00* * will take place irrespective of weather conditions |
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| PLACE: | 68 Fukakusa Yabunouchi-cho, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto |
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| DIRECTION: | Fushimi-Inari Station on the Keihan Electric Railway Line or Inari Station on the JR Nara Line |
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| TEL: | 81-75-641-7331 | |
| ADMISSION: | Free | |
| TEXT: | It is said that Inari shrines were established in reverence to the god of agriculture, providing a place for farmers to pray for good rice harvests. As the head Inari shrine in Japan, Fushimi-Inari Taisha hosts an annual rice planting festival in early summer. Following a service in the main building, miko, or shrine maidens, clad in Heian-era costumes perform a graceful dance in a sacred rice field within the temple grounds. Next, some 30 farm girls in sedge hats decorated with red sash begin planting the field as they pray for a bumper crop this year. |