the secret of the tangerine tunnel

Months before I traveled to Japan, I spoke with a TV commercial director who told me many interesting stories about his vacation there with his family.

"When we were in Kyoto," he said, "we took the train to the Fushimi Inari Shrine. Man, do you remember the scene in 'Memoirs of a Geisha' where the young Sayuri was running inside a tunnel of orange posts? That was the place. It was awesome!"

Then his eyes widened. "But you must hear the rest of my story. You remember my daughter? Remember I told you she has a third eye? While we were walking through the endless row of toriis, she suddenly freaked out! She couldn't breath... was crying like anything! We had to rush her out of there and give her lots of water to drink.'

'When she was well enough to talk, she revealed to us that she saw countless spirits of dead people roaming the place, and that a lot of them scrambled to get to her, pleading for help like lost souls. They must have sensed that my daughter could see them... it freaked me out, too!"

Last April 9, when I finally visited the Fushimi Inari Shrine with J, it was late afternoon and only as handful of tourists were present. The minute we were inside the torii tunnel, I stood very, very still. No, I didn't sense any spirit breathing in my ear. Even my companion J, who claims to be 'sensitive', didn't get any ghostly vibe. Whew!

But it was an eerie, beautiful place alright.

The place is open 24 hours but you won't see me around after sunset. I'll run out of that tunnel faster than the young Zhang Ziyi did in the movie. :-0

(Top pic) The Bearbrick in the pink Japanese kimono with crests is the 'secret' bearbrick of the 'Toys R Us' - Set A Series, released in 2001!

All pics by yours truly, taken at the Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto

Translation: Torii = Gate

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