Inari Shrine, Shinto shrine in Kagoshima, Japan

Inari Shrine in Inari-chō is the third of Kagoshima's Five Shrines and was also called Shimazu Inari because the Shimazu lords venerated it. It enshrines Uka-no-Mitama-no-Mikoto, Sarutahiko-no-Mikoto and Ōmiyahime-no-Mikoto. Its subsidiary shrines include a local Tanokami (field god) called Tan-kansā and a Konpira shrine.

According to tradition, Shimazu Tadahisa, founder of the Shimazu clan, was born protected by foxfire after an Inari omen at Sumiyoshi Taisha in Settsu. In 1209 he invited the Inari deity to Yuda Village, present-day Hioki, and the shrine was later moved to its current site by Shimazu Tadakuni. In 1696 it received the rank of Senior First Court Rank, and its archery festival was counted among Satsuma's spectacles.

The shrine honors Inari, a deity worshipped for centuries in Japanese tradition and connected to rice, business, and household well-being. Visitors leave offerings like rice or fried tofu at the altars, and fox statues placed throughout serve as visible reminders of the spiritual messengers that bridge the sacred and everyday worlds.

The shrine stands in Inari-chō, in the southern part of Kagoshima city, and is reached by city tram and bus lines serving the surrounding districts. The main festival, with its yabusame archery rite, drew crowds to the Inari market once counted among Kyushu's three great markets. The grounds also hold small subsidiary shrines to Tanokansa and Konpira.

The shrine was one of the third of Kagoshima's five shrines and was revered by the Shimazu lords, who called it Shimazu Inari. Its annual festival once featured yabusame horseback archery, counted among the spectacles of Satsuma, and the Inari market held at the same time was the busiest of Kyushu's three great markets.