2017 Summer in Japan and Korea: Extreme ChaXi on Fushimi Inari-taisha
Hiking 233 meters over 4 hours in 90 degree and 90% humidity to brew tea on the top of an ancient Shinto shrine? This is extreme ChaXi.
![Kimonos are hot](https://www.cultofquality.com/content/images/2023/01/2017-07-06-12.43.34.jpg)
The Fushimi shrine is made up of more than 30,000 tori gates, and the path up the mountain winds its way past thousands of smaller sub shrines.
![Fushimi Torii](https://www.cultofquality.com/content/images/2023/01/2017-07-06-13.44.19.jpg)
We hiked the main path to the top, and then followed a small mountain trail to a little known satellite shrine.
![Top of Fushimi](https://www.cultofquality.com/content/images/2023/01/2017-07-06-13.34.31.jpg)
The forest was dense surrounding the summit path; the rustling of the wind and rattle of the kodama as they followed us to the chaxi place was a soundscape of life. It matched the oppressive heat and humidity. It magnifying the feeling of the ethereal.
![The kodama followed us to the chaxi](https://www.cultofquality.com/content/images/2023/01/Gibli-Ghosts.jpg)
We made the chaxi on the top step of a shrine that matched the greater landscape, symbolizing the mountains that stretched out around us in the distance. The reflections of the moss and shimmering of the leaves cast a green hue to the light. The tea rejuvenated us – it brought a coolness to the air and a feeling of energy to our tired feet.
![A chaxi for me and the Kodama](https://www.cultofquality.com/content/images/2023/01/2017-07-06-12.15.45.jpg)
The kodama and I enjoyed the tea. They bid me farewell and I began my decent back into the bustling city of Kyoto.