   is the japanese kami of foxes, of fertility, rice, tea and sake, of agriculture and industry, of general prosperity and worldly success, and one of the principal kami of shinto. in earlier japan, inari was also the patron of swordsmiths and merchants. represented as male, female, or androgynous, inari is sometimes seen as a collective of three or five individual kami. inari appears to have been worshipped since the founding of a shrine at inari mountain in 711 ad, although some scholars believe that worship started in the late 5th century. worship of inari spread across japan in the edo period, and by the 16th century inari had become the patron of blacksmiths and the protector of warriors. inari is a popular figure in both shinto and buddhist beliefs in japan. more than one-third (32,000) of the shinto shrines in japan are dedicated to inari. modern corporations, such as cosmetic company shiseido, continue to revere inari as a patron kami, with shrines atop their corporate headquarters. inari's foxes, or kitsune, are pure white and act as their messengers. ==depiction==  inari has been depicted both as male and as female. the most popular representations of inari, according to scholar karen ann smyers, are a young female food goddess, an old man carrying rice, and an androgynous bodhisattva.smyers, karen ann. the fox and the jewel: shared and private meanings in contemporary japanese inari worship. honolulu: university of hawaii press, 1999. 8 no one view is correct; the preferred gender of depiction varies according to regional traditions and individual beliefs. because of their close association with kitsune, inari is often believed to be a fox; though this belief is widespread, both shinto and buddhist priests discourage it. inari also appears in the form of a snake or dragon, and one folktale has inari appear to a wicked man in the shape of a monstrous spider as a way of teaching him a lesson. inari is sometimes identified with other mythological figures. some scholars suggest that inari is the figure known in classical japanese mythology as ukanomitama or the [[kojiki]
Agricultural_deities Commerce_gods Fertility_deities Fortune_deities Health_deities Japanese_deities Japanese_folk_religion Japanese_words_and_phrases Shinbutsu_shA<<gA Shinto_kami