The origin of Fushimi Inari Taisha is described in Yamashirokoku Fudoki, an ancient report on provincial culture, geography and oral tradition that was presented to the emperor. Irogu no Hatanokimi, an ancestor of Hatanonakatsue no Imiki, is said to have shot a rice cake, which turned into a swan and flew away. Eventually the swan landed on a peak of a mountain, where an auspicious omen occurred and rice grew. Inari is named for this miracle (“ina” is Japanese for “rice”). It has also been described in other ancient texts, which state that priests such as Hatauji have held spring and autumn festivals at the shrine ever since the deity Inari Okami was enshrined on a plateau in the Inari Mitsugamine area during the Wado era (708-715).

An ancient shrine text also says that Irogu no Hatanokimi, a respected figure in what is now the Fukakusa area of Kyoto, received an imperial order from Empress Genmei to enshrine three deities in three mountains on the first Day of the Horse of the second month of 711. That year, the farmers were blessed with great harvests of grains and much silk from their silkworms.

This shows that Fushimi Inari Taisha and the Fukakusa area are closely connected to Hatauji, and that our deity has been enshrined since the first Day of the Horse in the second month of 711. But there is reason to believe that our faith dates back even further than this.