INARI — Deity of Prosperity in JAPAN
As a name it is a deity, but there is an animal that is represented with this deity and it is the fox. So whenever they hear Inari it is culturally closely related to the fox, the fox the animal, the Japanese fox, not the fox with the sword and the cape and the masks. So Inari as a deity represents prosperity, especially originally in agriculture, that talking about agriculture in Japan is always related to rice and tea.
As is to be expected, a deity that speaks of prosperity, especially in agriculture, since it was essentially everyone’s favorite. Everyone wanted Inari’s favors and well they represent him in a male version, in a female version and also an androgynous version. These are already human representations, that is, there is no single representation, normally Amateratsu, for example, the main Japanese deity in Shintoism is always represented as a woman, instead Isanagi, Isanami depends, one is a man and the other is a woman. But in the case of Inari it is everything. Even apart, for example, the fox is attributed through the powers that Inari gives him the ability to visually transform into a human being, man or woman indifferently. He can deceive the human being by taking the form of a human and acting within our society influencing our society etc. so at the same time that it is highly respected, it is also very loved, and sometimes it is very feared because the fox can deceive us.
The origin of Inari is a bit confusing, as you know, there are no books in Shintoism, there are no sacred books, everything is an oral tradition eventually written but not as a book but as stories, as traditions, as folklore, etc. So there is no book, there is no very clear reference to the origin of Inari, we do not know in a few words who her parents were, her brothers, her grandparents, her children, her grandchildren if she is not a somewhat “standalone” deity, independent , lonely. Well, it’s not that he didn’t have a family at all, what happens is that it’s rather not known why inari came, obviously like many things from China, through Buddhism before the year 1000 by the year 700 after Christ and well within how inari was accommodated within what was already in shintoism because it was said that it was like taking over from “Ukemochi” who was already a deity before and Inari took his place and inherited his powers because this deity died in his mythology you know and then Inari was the successor. Because they also do not find anything from Inari sources and in Japanese folklore, too, its origin is not very clear. It is that some say that Ukemochi was his wife, others say that it was his mother, others say that it was the same person, others say that it had nothing to do with it, so in this sense mythology is absolutely vague, there is no way of knowing.
Paradoxically, for being one of the most detached deities from the Shinto Olympus, it is the one with the most temples, the most sanctuaries in Japan, it is the most adored deity. Well, what we do know is the name where Inari comes from, more or less, and it comes from the word or phrase “Ine Nari” (Ine ni naru), “ine” is the rice that came out, it’s the spike and that It is the “ine” because the grain of rice is already “kome” and cooked it is “gohan” so it has three parts. It has three essences. So “Ine ni naru” means that it became “ine”. “Ni naru” is to return or become the spike. Then it became an ear, they also called it “Inari Oogami” which is the great god Inari, the great god Inari, and well, as you can see, it has continued to have a relationship with rice ever since. In many places, on many roads, in front of many rice fields, you will find small temples, small shrines dedicated to Inari. Even one of the temples or shrines sorry, I always say temples but they are the most important shrines in Japan, it is in Kyoto and it is dedicated to Inari and it is “Fushimi Inari”, it is in all the literature, in all the folklore, in all the traditions , in figurines, in characters from comics or manga, anime, videogames or children’s stories, there is a fascination for inari.
