4K 佐賀県 祐徳稲荷神社 Yutoku Inari Shrine, Kyushu JAPAN

Yūtoku Inari Shrine 祐徳稲荷神社 is a shrine located in Kashima City, Saga Prefecture. It is one of the most famous Inari shrines in Japan.
Dedicated to Inari, the wild fox kami, it is the third largest of its kind in Japan. It was constructed in 1688 as the family shrine of the Nabeshima clan who ruled what would become the Saga area (called Hizen at that time) during the Edo period. It was built to the Inari kami of the harvest by a princess from Kyoto named Manko Hime 萬子媛 who married Nabeshima Naotomo. The Nabeshima clan was entrusted with protecting Edo’s interests in Kyūshū, in particular the city of Nagasaki, which was one of the few ports open to foreign contact during Japan’s period of isolation.
Its main hall stands on tall wooden beams 18 meters above the valley floor, not unlike Kyoto's Kiyomizudera Temple. From the main hall's terrace, a walking trail leads further into the wooded hill behind the shrine. Sections of the path are covered by torii gates and lined by smaller shrines. After about a ten minute climb, visitors will find the small Okunoin shrine hall at the top and nice views over Kashima City and the nearby Ariake Sea.
Higashi-yama Koen, a park making up the outer garden of the shrine, is known for the splendor of its azaleas.
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