[4] The shrine is said to have ten thousand such gates in total that designate the entrance to the holy domain of kami and protect it against wicked forces.

[6] In 965, Emperor Murakami decreed that messengers carry written accounts of important events to the guardian kami of Japan.

[7] From 1871 through 1946, Fushimi Inari-taisha was officially designated one of the Kanpei-taisha (官幣大社), meaning that it stood in the first rank of government supported shrines.

A drawing in Kiyoshi Nozaki's Kitsune: Japan's Fox of Mystery, Romance and Humor in 1786 depicting the shrine says that its two-story entry gate was built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

The earliest structures were built in 711 on the Inariyama hill in southwestern Kyoto, but the shrine was re-located in 816 on the request of the monk Kūkai.

[15] The shrine inspired Nintendo game designer, Shigeru Miyamoto, to create the series Star Fox.

Miyamoto attributed these inspirations to the Fushimi Inari Shrine, which is within walking distance of the Nintendo Kyoto campus.