Inari (ē`närē), Swed. Enare, lake, c.500 sq mi (1,290 sq km), N Finland. It is fed by the Ivalojoki and empties into the Arctic Ocean through the Paatsjoki. Lake Inari contains more than 3,000 islands and is a tourist attraction.
In Japanese mythology, the patron god of rice cultivation and prosperity. He was worshiped especially by merchants and tradesmen, and he also served as patron deity of swordsmiths, brothels, and entertainers. Inari was variously depicted as a bearded old man riding a fox or as a woman with long hair, carrying sheaves of rice. The fox is sometimes identified as his messenger. The god's most popular shrine is the Fushimi Inari Shrine near Kyoto.
Inari
Inari
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Inari, wood figurine, Tokugawa period (1603–1867); in the Musée Guimet, Paris
(credit: Courtesy of the Musee Guimet, Paris)
Inari
a lake in northern Finland. Situated at an elevation of 114 m, in a broad depression of glacial-tectonic origin. Area, about 1,050 sq km; maximum depth, 60 m. Its shores are strongly indented and mostly swampy, and it has about 3,000 islands. Outflow is by way of the Pats River into the Barents Sea. It is frozen over from November to March.
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