Fushimi Inari Taisha xmas / new years

Hi everyone.

We go to Japan every xmas / new years, and are always looking for new experiences in and around the Kansai region and Tokyo metro area.

I read today about Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto and was wondering what it's like during the winter, being in the mountains and all.

Do they have the usual year-end festivities setup, such as food stalls, and what days does that generally happen, if so?

I will be going Japan using a JR pass this xmas and wonder what are the places you would recommend me.
PS. I travel a lot to Japan but never on xmas.

Fushimi Inari shrine is quite popular for Hatsumode, the first shrine visit of the New Year, so it will be very busy. Some people advise not to visit famous shrines at this time, particularly Ise Shrine, since it is the holiest shrine it gets thousands of visitors, including the Prime Minister. For me, this is a great time to go. The crowds are part of the experience.

Although it is built on a mountainside, I wouldn't consider it to be "in the mountains". It is likely that there will not even be snow.

Thanks for your comments, Rabbityama!

Yes, I DID read that it's sort of at the base shrine and you can go up the mountain to other shrines, so it's not really ''in the mountains''. Still, it would be kind of fun if it snowed!

We have gone to Japan over xmas/new years for 5 years straight and it has only snowed once anywhere in the Kansai and Tokyo Metro regions while we were there, and that was the first year, in downtown Tokyo!

Anyway, glad to know they have all the usual celebrations at Fushimi Inari. We also like the crowds and spectacle and fun of the new years celebrations at the shrines, so we don't care too much about the crowds either... maybe it's because the trains aren't crowded that time of year, so you're not contending with crowds everywhere, and it's no big deal, besides, it's festive.

OK, now I'm slinking away to go find out about Ise Shrine! That sounds fun too!

Last year we went to Sumiyoshi Taisha in Osaka, which was VERY crowded, and you have to be in the crowds to get across the bridge, and it hailed while we were there, but it was still very festive and fun.

We usually go to Yasukuni in Tokyo too, although we recently learned about the links to ''war heroes'' there, which leaves a bad taste... but still... it's sort of tradition for us now.

Hi Lester.

I can't tell you much about the JR railpass because every time we have priced it for our particular type of travel it has been, at best, the same price as buying all the trips separately.

Our experience has been that unless you are traveling great distances in a short period of time, it's not worth it. For instance, we travel from Tokyo to Osaka on day one, and from Osaka back to Tokyo on day 9, so we're outside the 1 week pass period, and don't get any benefit from it.

We also find that it is usually not the JR lines we are wanting to use within Tokyo, so we don't get any benefit there.

My suggestion is to look at the pricing, listed here on Japan-Guide, and also use Hyperdia.com to figure out what the trips will cost you without a pass, and calculate whether it's worth it for your particular situation. If it is close, I would opt against it.

Having said all that, the train system is great, even during the holidays when things tend to be LESS busy than usual rather than more busy.

This time of year, I would suggest booking your reserved seats on any long train trips as soon as you touch down in Japan, just to make sure you aren't disappointed!

Last year, we accidentally stumbled onto one of the busy holiday days when all the locals were going to visit their families, and it was standing room only for 3 hours all the way to Tokyo from Osaka... but that's only the few days leading up to New Years.

My understanding is that this year it is 29-31 December when the trains are busy busy busy! We're traveling on the first of January this year, so we should be fine.

I also understand there's a special 3 day ticket which can be pretty much used on any trains during the new years time, and it is cheap, but I can't remember the name of it. Maybe someone out there will know, however.

For me, Hatsumode at Ise Shrine was one of my favorite experiences! Ise Shrine is divided into 2 separate parts: Geku and Naiku. The Geku part was not so crowded when I went, but Naiku became very crowded when trying to get to the honden (main part of the shrine). There were huge crowds and it took about 2 hours, but that's not really so bad! It's probably even more crowded when the Prime Minister is there.

Ise Shrine is interesting in that much of the buildings are hidden behind walls and within the surrounding forest, which is also holy. It is definitely different, but the atmosphere, especially on hatsumode, is great! If you are interested in this sort of thing and are able to go to Ise, I would highly recommend it!