（２９５） Ｋａｓａｍａ Ｉｎａｒｉ Ｓｈｒｉｎｅ
文字数 2,565文字
After visiting Kitayama Park, we had lunch and afterwards visited Kasama Inari "incidentally". I say "incidentally" for two reasons.
First, Kasama Inari Shrine is very crowded during the first three days of the New Year and the wisteria season.
It is known as one of Japan's three major Inari shrines, along with Kyoto's Fushimi Inari and Kyushu's Yutoku Inari.
The annual number of worshipers is 3.5 million, and 800,000 people visit the shrine during the first three days of the New Year alone, making it the number one shrine in Ibaraki prefecture.
Two 400-year-old wisteria trees here in Kasama Inari are famous. One is a designated cultural property of Ibaraki prefecture as “Yae no wisteria (八重の藤)”.
Kasama Inari is located in the middle of the town, so it gets very crowded during the wisteria season.
It's off season now, so it's not crowded.
There is no public parking lot. So, it's worth doing a preliminary inspection during the off season.
Secondly, Kasama Inari Shrine used to prohibit dogs, but recently the ban has been lifted. This is also worth checking to see whether it is true or not.
For lunch, Mom and Dad ate a creamy chestnut “Mont Blanc” cake at the roadside station and then we went to a bakery.
The “Mont Blanc” cake there is popular, (in fact, Mom said there were about 30 customers in line), but dogs can't enter. So, while I was sitting in the car, Mom and Dad ate the “Mont Blanc” cake, and then we went to a bakery with terrace seats and had lunch together.
At the bakery, bread is baked by bakers who have trained at a bakery in Tokyo using a Spanish stone kiln. The second floor is an eat-in space, but it is currently closed due to the coronavirus.
① This is Kasama Inari shrine. In the background is the main shrine built in 1860 (nationally designated important cultural property). You can see a wisteria trellis on the right.
②I am in front of the worship hall. It's sunny and dazzling.
③ I'm in front of ‘Yae no wisteria(八重の藤)”. The wisteria was smaller than I expected.
※”Yae(八重)” means “overlapping many times” and does not mean that the number of petals is 8.
④ At Inari Shrine, there are no Komainu (guardian dogs). Instead, there are many guardian foxes.
⑤ On the approach to the shrine, fox goods are sold.
⑥This is the famous “Mont Blanc” cake at Roadside Station Kasama. Dogs are not allowed in the restaurant, so this is photoshopped.
⑦It is a stone kiln bakery. The cylindrical tower on the right may be a part of the stone kiln.
⑧I am in front of the stone kiln bakery.
First, Kasama Inari Shrine is very crowded during the first three days of the New Year and the wisteria season.
It is known as one of Japan's three major Inari shrines, along with Kyoto's Fushimi Inari and Kyushu's Yutoku Inari.
The annual number of worshipers is 3.5 million, and 800,000 people visit the shrine during the first three days of the New Year alone, making it the number one shrine in Ibaraki prefecture.
Two 400-year-old wisteria trees here in Kasama Inari are famous. One is a designated cultural property of Ibaraki prefecture as “Yae no wisteria (八重の藤)”.
Kasama Inari is located in the middle of the town, so it gets very crowded during the wisteria season.
It's off season now, so it's not crowded.
There is no public parking lot. So, it's worth doing a preliminary inspection during the off season.
Secondly, Kasama Inari Shrine used to prohibit dogs, but recently the ban has been lifted. This is also worth checking to see whether it is true or not.
For lunch, Mom and Dad ate a creamy chestnut “Mont Blanc” cake at the roadside station and then we went to a bakery.
The “Mont Blanc” cake there is popular, (in fact, Mom said there were about 30 customers in line), but dogs can't enter. So, while I was sitting in the car, Mom and Dad ate the “Mont Blanc” cake, and then we went to a bakery with terrace seats and had lunch together.
At the bakery, bread is baked by bakers who have trained at a bakery in Tokyo using a Spanish stone kiln. The second floor is an eat-in space, but it is currently closed due to the coronavirus.
① This is Kasama Inari shrine. In the background is the main shrine built in 1860 (nationally designated important cultural property). You can see a wisteria trellis on the right.
②I am in front of the worship hall. It's sunny and dazzling.
③ I'm in front of ‘Yae no wisteria(八重の藤)”. The wisteria was smaller than I expected.
※”Yae(八重)” means “overlapping many times” and does not mean that the number of petals is 8.
④ At Inari Shrine, there are no Komainu (guardian dogs). Instead, there are many guardian foxes.
⑤ On the approach to the shrine, fox goods are sold.
⑥This is the famous “Mont Blanc” cake at Roadside Station Kasama. Dogs are not allowed in the restaurant, so this is photoshopped.
⑦It is a stone kiln bakery. The cylindrical tower on the right may be a part of the stone kiln.
⑧I am in front of the stone kiln bakery.
