From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about the Japanese word for the fox. For other uses, see Kitsune (disambiguation). A nine-tailed fox spirit (kyūbi no kitsune) scaring Prince Hanzoku; print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Edo period, 19th century In Japanese folklore, kitsune (狐, きつね, IPA: [kʲi̥t͡sɯne̞] i) are foxes that possess paranormal abilities that increase as they get older and wiser. According to yōkai folklore, all foxes have the ability to shapeshift into human form. While some folktales speak of kitsune employing this ability to trick others—as foxes in folklore often do—other stories portray them as faithful guardians, friends, and lovers.
Kitsune are believed to possess superior intelligence, long life, and magical powers. They are a type of yōkai. The word kitsune is sometimes translated as 'fox spirit', which is actually a broader folkloric category. This does not mean that kitsune are ghosts, nor that they are fundamentally different from regular foxes. Because the word spirit is used to reflect a state of knowledge or enlightenment, all long-lived foxes were believed to gain supernatural abilities. There are two common classifications of kitsune: • The zenko (善狐, lit. 'good foxes') are benevolent, celestial foxes associated with Inari; they are sometimes simply called Inari foxes in English. • On the other hand, the yako (野狐, lit. 'field foxes', also called nogitsune) tend to be mischievous or even malicious. Local traditions add further types. For example, a ninko is an invisible fox spirit that human beings can only perceive when it possesses them. Kitsune have as many as nine tails. Generally, a greater number of tails indicates an older and more powerful Kitsune; in fact, some folktales say that a fox will only grow additional tails after it has lived 100 years. (In the wild, the typical lifespan of a real fox is one to three years, although individuals may live up to ten years in captivity.) One, five, seven, and nine tails are the most common numbers in folktales. These kyūbi no kitsune (九尾の狐, 'nine-tailed foxes') gain the abilities to see and hear anything happening anywhere in the world. Other tales credit them with infinite wisdom (omniscience). After reaching 1,000 years of age and gaining its ninth tail, a kitsune turns a white or golden color, becoming a tenko (天狐, 'heavenly/celestial fox'), the most powerful form of the kitsune, and then ascends to the heavens. A kitsune may take on human form, an ability learned when it reaches a certain age—usually 100 years, although some tales say 50. As a common prerequisite for the transformation, the fox must place reeds, a leaf, or a skull over its head. Common forms assumed by kitsune include beautiful women, young girls, elderly men, and less often young boys. These shapes are not limited by the fox's own age or gender, and a kitsune can duplicate the appearance of a specific person. Kitsune are particularly renowned for impersonating beautiful women. Common belief in medieval Japan was that any woman encountered alone, especially at dusk or night, could be a kitsune. Kitsune-gao ('fox-faced') refers to human females who have a narrow face with close-set eyes, thin eyebrows, and high cheekbones. Traditionally, this facial structure is considered attractive, and some tales ascribe it to foxes in human form. Variants on the theme have the kitsune retain other foxy traits, such as a coating of fine hair, a fox-shaped shadow, or a reflection that shows its true form. In some stories, kitsune retain—and have difficulty hiding—their tails when they take human form; looking for the tail, perhaps when the fox gets drunk or careless, is a common method of discerning the creature's true nature. A particularly devout individual may even be able to see through a fox's disguise merely by perceiving them. Kitsune can also be exposed while in human form by their fear and hatred of dogs, and some become so rattled by their presence that they revert to the form of a fox and flee. One folktale illustrating these imperfections in the kitsune's human shape concerns Koan, a historical person later credited with legendary wisdom and magical powers of divination. According to the story, he was staying at the home of one of his devotees when he scalded his foot entering a bath because the water had been drawn too hot. Then, "in his pain, he ran out of the bathroom naked. When the people of the household saw him, they were astonished to see that Koan had fur covering much of his body, along with a fox's tail. Then Koan transformed in front of them, becoming an elderly fox and running away." Other supernatural abilities commonly attributed to kitsune include possession, generating fire or lightning, willful manifestation in the dreams of others, flight, invisibility, and the creation of illusions so elaborate as to be almost indistinguishable from reality. Some tales speak of kitsune with even greater powers, able to bend time and space, drive people mad, or take fantastic shapes such as an incredibly tall tree or a second moon in the sky. Other kitsune have characteristics reminiscent of vampires or succubi, and feed on the life or spirit of human beings, generally through sexual contact. Kitsune are often presented as tricksters, with motives that vary from mischief to malevolence. Stories tell of kitsune playing tricks on overly proud samurai, greedy merchants, and boastful commoners, while the crueler ones abuse poor tradesmen and farmers or devout Buddhist monks. Their victims are usually men; women are possessed instead. For example, kitsune are thought to employ their kitsunebi to lead travelers astray in the manner of a will-o'-the-wisp. Another tactic is for the kitsune to confuse its target with illusions or visions. Other common goals of trickster kitsune include seduction, theft of food, humiliation of the prideful, or vengeance for a perceived slight. A traditional game called kitsune-ken ('fox-fist') references the kitsune's powers over human beings. The game is similar to rock paper scissors, but the three hand positions signify a fox, a hunter, and a village headman. The headman beats the hunter, whom he outranks; the hunter beats the fox, whom he shoots; the fox beats the headman, whom he bewitches.
The oldest relationship between the Japanese people and the fox dates back to the Jomon period necklace made by piercing the canine teeth and jawbone of the fox. In Nihon Shoki, which was compiled in 720 and is one of the oldest history books in Japan, foxes appeared for the first time as supernatural beings that let people know good omens and bad omens. Various legends about foxes with human personalities were first described in Nihon Ryōiki which was compiled around 822. In this story, a man from Mino Province and a kitsune having a female personality get married and have a child, and the kitsune as the wife is described as a person who has a deep resentment against dogs. Also, their descendants are depicted as doing evil things by taking advantage of their power. According to Hiroshi Moriyama, a professor at the Tokyo University of Agriculture, foxes have come to be regarded as sacred by the Japanese because they are the natural enemies of rats that eat up rice or burrow into rice paddies. Because fox urine has a rat-repelling effect, Japanese people placed a stone with fox urine on a hokora of a Shinto shrine set up near a rice field. In this way, it is assumed that people in Japan acquired the culture of respecting kitsune as messengers of Inari Okami. Folktales from China tell of fox spirits called húli jīng (Chinese: 狐狸精) also named as nine tale fox (Chinese: 九尾狐）that may have up to nine tails. These fox spirits were adopted to Japanese culture through merchants as kyūbi no kitsune (九尾の狐, lit. 'nine-tailed fox'). Many of the earliest surviving stories are recorded in the Konjaku Monogatarishū, an 11th-century Japanese collection of Japanese, Chinese, and Indian literary narratives. Despite its fearsome reputation, the Kraken could also bring some benefits for people. Sailors believed that the monster swam accompanied by huge schools of fishes, telling how fishes cascaded down the Kraken’s back when it emerged from the sea (Wallenberg, 1835). Some claimed that fishes ate the monster’s excrement while others said that the Kraken produced some sort of “aroma” to attract its fish prey. Putting their fear aside, some fishermen risked going near the monster in order to secure a more bounteous catch. Embedded in Japanese folklore as they are, kitsune appear in numerous Japanese works. Noh, kyogen, bunraku, and kabuki plays derived from folk tales feature them, as do contemporary works such as native animations, comic books and video games. Japanese metal idol band Babymetal refer to the kitsune myth in their lyrics and include the use of fox masks, hand signs, and animation interludes during live shows. Western authors of fiction have also made use of the kitsune legends although not in extensive detail.