| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Combat | ATK 55 DEF 80 SPR 92 SPD 75 INT 85 |
| Rank | Great Kami / Among the Most Widely Worshipped Kami in Japan |
| Domain | Rice, Agriculture, Fertility, Foxes, Commerce, Industry, Prosperity |
| Alignment | Shinto Sacred |
| Weakness | Inari's gender, identity, and even number (singular or plural) are ambiguous -- variously depicted as male, female, or androgynous, and sometimes as a collective of multiple kami |
| Counter | None specific -- Inari is almost universally benevolent |
| Key Act | Inari's fox messengers (*kitsune*) guard shrines and carry prayers. Over one-third of all Shinto shrines in Japan (approximately 32,000) are dedicated to Inari. The Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto, with its thousands of vermilion torii gates, is the most visited shrine in Japan |
| Source | *Fushimi Inari Taisha* shrine traditions; Karen Smyers, *The Fox and the Jewel* (1999); Ashkenazi, *Handbook of Japanese Mythology* |
“One-third of all the shrines in Japan bear the name Inari. No other kami comes close.” — Karen Smyers, The Fox and the Jewel
Lore: Inari is the single most widely worshipped kami in Japan, and yet Inari is also the most mysterious. Is Inari male or female? One entity or many? The answer varies by shrine, by region, by historical period. At Fushimi Inari Taisha (the head shrine, founded in 711 AD), Inari is worshipped as a collective of five kami. In popular imagination, Inari is often depicted as a beautiful woman carrying sheaves of rice, attended by white foxes. In Shingon Buddhist interpretation, Inari is identified with the Dakini, a fierce Buddhist deity.
The fox connection is central: white foxes serve as Inari’s messengers and guardians, and the stone fox statues at Inari shrines — often holding a key (to the rice granary), a jewel, or a scroll in their mouths — are among the most recognizable symbols in Japanese religious art. The thousands of vermilion torii gates at Fushimi Inari, donated by businesses and individuals seeking prosperity, form the most iconic image of Shinto worldwide. Inari’s domain expanded over the centuries from rice agriculture to include general commerce and industry, making Inari the patron kami of business — which is why so many corporations have Inari shrines on their rooftops.
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