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The secluded site is enthralling people across Japan with its mysterious and untamed beauty.

While Japanese people are used to being surrounded by beautiful shrines and temples, it’s not every day that one appears out of the overgrowth on a mountain trail like a scene from a magical anime movie. For one curious nature-lover in Japan, that’s exactly what happened as they walked along a mountain path in Yokosuka, roughly 63 kilometres (39 miles) south of Tokyo. After sharing mysterious photos from the encounter on his Twitter account, @347ki received tens of thousands of likes and retweets from fellow Twitter users who were blown away by the secret area.

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The breathtakingly atmospheric images show dozens of red torii gates, some cracked and falling to the side in a state of disrepair, leading the way towards a hidden destination along a once well-trodden path now covered with a lush green undergrowth and surrounded by dense foliage.

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According to @347ki, walking along the trail beneath the torii gates in the quiet forest was an exhilarating experience, especially as it was a totally unexpected discovery.

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If the red torii gates look familiar, that’s because this shrine was built in reverence to the same deity enshrined at Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto, which is known for its thousands of vermilion torii gates.

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At the end of the torii-lined path is the beautiful shrine, dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice. Constructed in the early years of the Showa period (1926 – 1989), this shrine is still in use by locals, despite its overgrown appearance.

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Foxes are believed to be Inari’s messengers, which means fox statues are an important feature on the grounds. These two, which sit at either side of the shrine, are unusually graceful and slender.

Shrine

After posting these beautiful photos of the shrine, @347ki was inundated with questions regarding the location of the secret site. He finally revealed it to be Fushimi Hakuseki Inari Shrine in Yokosuka, which is located in Kanagawa Prefecture.

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It’s definitely off the beaten track, so much so that there’s no explicit address available. Located in an incredibly quiet neighbourhood, with private residences nearby, visitors are requested to be quiet and respectful when visiting the shrine and to use public transport as there is very little parking available. With a site as eerily reverent as this, we hope its quiet beauty is maintained for years to come!

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Shrine Information
Fushimi Hakuseki Inari Shrine/伏見白赤稲荷社
Address: Kanagawa-ken, Yokosuka-shi, Tauraōsakuchō
神奈川県須賀市田浦大作町

Source: Hamusoku
Images: Twitter/@347ki