#4. Katsushika

Cycling may be something that I love to do but I’m not really one who goes for a ride without some kind of aim whether it be to a restaurant, a sight or just my workplace. With that in mind, and desperate to get out on my new bike, I decided to cycle round ALL the Inari Shrines in Tokyo taking each of the 23 wards one at a time.

Inspired by recent interest in tiny shrines, this idea seemed like a good way of hunting them down in a slightly orderly fashion. This really is not so much about the actual Inari Shrines but just getting out on my bike and having a means to an end. Please note that there are many more Inari Shrines (as well as other shrines) than what’s listed below but these were all the ones registered on Google Maps. The times in brackets next to the name of the shrines note the (approximate) time of day I was at each place.

Starting Point: Tokyo Fox Global Operations Centre, Itabashi-ku (10:01)

1. Kosuge Inari Shrine @ 1-28-11 Kosuge (10.57)

2. Tanaka Inari Shrine @ 3-1 -2 Kosuge (11:04)

3. Shoei Inari Shrine @ 3-19 Kosuge (11:09)

4. Inari Shrine @ 2-37-3 Ayase

X

5. Sunahara Inari Shrine @ 3-29-11 Nishikameari (11:33)

6. Hananoki Inari Shrine @ 6-3-17 Niijuku (11:50)

7. Inari Shrine @ 8-6-22 Okudo (12:16)

8. Inari Shrine @ 2-35-16 Okudo (12:25)

9. Umeda Inari Shrine @ 4-31-3 Tateishi (12:37)

10. Inari Shrine @ 1-18 Takaramachi (12:47)

11. Shinohara Inari Shrine @ 4-19-33 Yotsugi (12:52)

12. Inari Shrine @ 3-10-1 Yotsugi (13:01)

Date: Wednesday 27th May 2020

Weather: Cloudy with sunny intervals

Area: 34.8 km²

Distance: 50.32 km

Time: 3.19 hrs

Calories Burned: 1463

Top: Leicester City 2003-2005 away shirt

Notes: Time to go a bit further afield than on the previous three trips. Cycling on the paths besides the Arakawa River was nice but overall I took a lot of wrong turns on this journey! I couldn’t even get in the first shrine as work construction was being done around it and then spent ages looking for the fourth one but concluded it must’ve been knocked down along with the building on the same site. It was nice to cycle around an area I haven’t ventured into too often although burning my head wasn’t so pleasant!

Fox Rating: 5/10

Nearby Sights: Shibamata

Click on the following links for other posts from the ‘Foxed In The Head’ Series…

#1. Itabashi     #2. Toshima   #3. Kita

Click here to read ‘TF Top 10……Tokyo Themed Cycling Rides’