Motonosumi Inari Shrine

The shrine was founded in 1955 after a local fisherman reported a white fox appearing to him, and the torii were donated over the following decade - a hundred and twenty-three of them, set close together in a line that runs about a hundred metres down the grassy clifftop towards the sea, so that walking through them you descend towards the water with the Sea of Japan opening at the end. The site is on the Nagato coast, a stretch of cliffs and blowholes, and one of them sends spray up beside the shrine in rough weather. The peculiarity is the offering box: it is fixed to the crossbeam of the top torii, about six metres up, and the local practice is to throw a coin up into it, with success said to bring the wish. Very few succeed and the ground around the gate is scattered with attempts.

What you actually see

• A hundred and twenty-three torii - descending about a hundred metres to the sea.
• The offering box - fixed six metres up a gate, aimed at with thrown coins.
• A blowhole coast - spray coming up beside the shrine in rough weather.
• A 1955 foundation - modern, with the gates donated through the following decade.

When to go

All year; morning light down the line of gates. An hour.

Honest expectations

Public transport is effectively absent - a car is required. Parking is charged and fills in season. It is a short visit for a long drive. The clifftop is exposed and windy.

Nearby

Tsunoshima Bridge is west along the coast; Hagi is east.