The gates, foxes, and cats, of Fushimi Inari Shrine

We arrived in Kyoto in the middle of a rain storm.  That did not stop us from heading directly to the famous Fushimi Inari shrine.  The rain may have helped actually because we were basically alone in the temple of over 32,000 individual shrines.

 Inari is the God of rice and business success.  She is represented by the fox, and the fox was duly represented at Fushimi Inari.

Although the Fox was supposed to be the star of the show, it was clear to us that the cats were in control of the shrine.  Maybe it was because most of the people had gone once we arrived but we saw more cats than people, and they looked surprised and annoyed to see us.

These kittens were huddled together on a stack of prayer wood to keep each other dry and warm.

This guy was visibly annoyed that we walking through his temple

These three seemed to be the Yakuza leaders of the cat gangs.  Not only were they completely serene as we approached, but they had arranged themselves in a formation of power beneath the arch.  We quickly left them alone to avoid personal harm.