Why are there Thousands of Red Torii Gates in Fushimi Inari in Kyoto?

Sagano Scenic Railway

Ticket: 620 JPY (~6.20 USD), at any JR ticket offices in Kansai Region

According to the maps, it would take 40 minutes, best case scenario, from the Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine to the Sagano Scenic Railway station. Alright, let the legs keep moving during the walking periods! I remember literally jumping out of the local Kyoto train and running as fast as I could towards the first station for the Sagano Scenic Railway tour. I don’t know why but I somehow like the adrenaline rush. ☺️

Just a view outside the Kameoka Torokko station where the Sagano Romantic Train departs.

And after I looked at my watch and realized that we still had some 10 minutes buffer, I slowed down and was able to take a photo along the way while trying to catch my breath. The important thing was that we made it on time.

Monkeys — Ahm, what kinds of animals are these? They are on the other side of the train platform.

Kameoka Platform — This is the platform of the Sagano Romantic train, we were waiting for the train to arrive.

We had high expectations from this trip, from the train experience to the view. It’s not that I was disappointed but we passed through 6 tunnels in the 25-minute ride covering 7 kilometers, with trees here and there. And if the train was full, it would be very difficult to see the entire view. I and Mikee stood up as soon as the train moved and positioned ourselves by the train door, almost kissing the glass door, to witness the full view of the mountain and river.

View 2 — The Kyoto trains pass through the tunnel and the bridge.

View 3 — The Sagano Romantic Train passes under several bridges and around 6 tunnels.

View 5 — Tourists can also take the Hozugawa River Boat Ride instead of the Sagano Romantic Train.

View 6 — It took the old-fashioned train to travel the 7-kilometer distance in a slow pace, about 25 minutes.

Halfway through the trip, I checked that we could move to the fully-open car, which was just next to ours (ours was enclosed but the windows could be opened). Since the train stopped at some stations, we moved to the open car in one of those stops and enjoyed the breeze. Fortunately, 4 seats were just vacated when we moved so we were able to have a good ride.

View 7 — There were 4 train stations for this Sagano Scenic Railway.

View 8 — We have arrived at Saga Torokko Station and this was the final view.

Anything old really fascinates me such as the old-fashioned trains elegantly displayed in the museum found at the last station of the train. It was amazing how they were able to preserve it and still make it functional especially the one we used in the tour.