Fox-ownership protects the community from itself. The practice of separating fox-owners helps protect those families from having problems with their neighbors and protects the fox-owning family’s land. Of course, it isn’t all rice and cherry blossoms for those rich families. Fox-ownership forces the wealthy to look at other villages for marriage partners or risk a lover’s suicide. Fox-ownership, like all aspects related to the Japanese fox, balances between positive and negative.
Villagers feared fox-owners because of the threat of fox-possession. A possession in the Shogun’s family drove the mighty Hideyoshi to write a letter to the priests of Inari. If it drove the most powerful man in Japan to seek help, you can understand why a peasant would fear possession. Fox possession gave the fox-owner label teeth.
Chapter 4 Fox Within: Fox Possession
Suddenly, you crave it. The thought of its stringy, lean flesh—battered and fried until a crispy brown—makes you drool. Yes, those shriveled ears taste divine. The crunch of bones. Sublime. Rice and red beans. The rice sops up the oils from the main course. And red beans. They go so very well with a fried rat.
You, my friend, have just been possessed by a wild fox.
Fox possession appears in Japan during the 11th century.[59] Chinese fox stories speak about possession, but the Japanese stories develop this ability far beyond their original Chinese inspiration.Kitsune-tsuki (pronouncedkey-tzoon-nay tzoo-key) is the second most famous ability of the Japanese fox—shape-shifting being the best known. The two types of foxes (divine and wild) war with each other over who controls the minds of humans. Wild foxes delight in possessing people. Divine foxes, Inari foxes in particular, are charged with keeping their sisters in line. Poker chips change from paw to paw. Human well-being and society anted-up. The wild fox smirks, and her divine elder sister wags her nine tails in warning. In feudal Japan, I envision them playing go. Nowadays, poker would likely be their game of choice. Inari fox and wild sister played a game as recently as 1978.
Takao lived through a car accident when he was eighteen years old. Soon after the accident, he started imitating a fox. He would jump around and shout. He was found walking the streets dressed in a raincoat and a helmet, carrying a huge sickle. After several unhelpful hospital visits, his family believed he was possessed and tied him up in a storehouse to keep him from hurting himself. Various priests tried to exorcise him but failed; back to the hospital’s padded room he went. He was deemed to be in an acute psychotic state and treated with a tranquilizer. After a month of medical treatment and seeing religious practitioners, he recovered.[60]
On the surface, fox possession appears to be a form of hysteria or mania. In the early 1900s, it was classified as such. However, many researchers think defining fox possession using Western terms removes it from its cultural and social context. In other words, becoming fox-possessed requires living in villages with fox beliefs. It differs from being simply manic or schizophrenic. [61]
The Disease of Fox Possession
Fox possession was considered a disease by Japan’s feudal doctors. They defined two types of wild foxes: low-class and high-class. Low-class foxes were less sophisticated and understood human culture poorly. Because of this lack of understanding, possession by these foxes resulted in bizarre behavior. Victims of these foxes broke social norms and often acted like foxes like Takao did. They ate food associated with foxes such as red beans and rice and fried tofu.[62] Most cases of possession were associated with this type of fox. The word possession refers to “when normal, everyday thinking is overturned.”[63]
High-class fox possession was harder to spot. This type of possession could even benefit the victim. High-class wild foxes were older and understood human culture better than their low-class sisters. The fox mimicked the victim’s behavior so well that differences were barely noticeable.[64] The person also gained the ability to write in languages he didn’t know. Often, the only giveaway to the possession were these sudden hidden skills and knowledge.
In both types of possession, the victim could speak with the fox spirit. High-class foxes formed a type of symbiotic relationship. That isn’t to say low-class foxes weren’t influenced by their host. Low-class foxes could develop into high-class foxes if the host trained spiritually. During Matsuoka Etsuko’s study of a shaman and a cult in 1983, a case of a low-class fox possession transformed into a divine fox symbiosis.
Michiko was a 43 year old woman who complained about foxes making noise. A shaman held a ritual to help Michiko. Michiko dreamed of her ancestors who were dissatisfied. Foxes numbered among them. The shaman and Michiko held a memorial ritual over the course of seven days. The ritual seemed to work. However, three months later Michiko changed, and tension with the shaman developed. She eventually stopped visiting the shaman but continued her spiritual practices and seeking help from Etsuko and other psychologists. Over this time, she reported speaking with the fox. The fox helped her remember a fire that left her scarred when she was a child. In 1986, Michiko claimed the wild fox spirit had become a divine creature. The possession became a positive, symbiotic relationship in her view. The psychologists viewed it as schizophrenia. However, Michiko became a shaman herself after several years of spiritual practice. The practice transformed the wild fox into a divine fox that allowed Michiko access to its spiritual powers.[65]
What appeared to be schizophrenia ended in Michiko’s attainment of a high religious status in her religious sect. Foxes were thought to change into divine beings whenever their hosts underwent spiritual practices. Michiko’s treatment followed a standard practice, as most fox exorcisms involved various spiritual rituals and practices. Fox spirits were thought to be displeased because of something the host’s ancestors did. Most of the time—as in Michiko’s case—an ancestor murdered the fox. Memorial ceremonies were held to honor the fox and put it to rest. Michiko’s spiritual training aimed at disciplining and educating the fox instead of exorcising it. Michiko’s fox developed into a divine being through her training, but without training, the fox could have become harmful.[66]
Many victims of fox possession seek both Western medical treatment and spiritual treatments. Traditional treatments lost their power over the fox, but Western psychology lack the spiritual dimension many people need. Neither traditional treatment nor can Western medicine treat fox possession on its own.[67]
Traditional treatment didn’t always involve benign spiritual practices like meditating under a waterfall. In 1926, two women were killed by their family in an attempt to drive out the women’s foxes. The family members filled the mother’s and daughter’s eyes and noses with sulfur.[68] Other traditional exorcism practices involve beatings and the use of torture. These practices come from folklore. Practices used to force a fox to resume her true shape also served to drive her spirit out of people. Some of these so-called treatments can be understood as punishment for how outspoken fox possession victims are.
The Benefit of Possession
Feudal Japanese society was highly stratified. People were expected to perform certain roles based on their genders and social statuses. Foxes ignored social status and inhabited people from all levels of Japanese society. However, farmers and women were afflicted most often.[69] Wrestlers had little to worry about. Foxes feared wrestlers as much as they feared dogs. Unlike wrestlers and dogs—one Shogun decreed killing a dog was murder—both farmers and women lacked a voice in feudal Japanese society. Possession allowed women to speak out without penalty, unless you count some traditional exorcist practices as punishment. Generally, people believed the fox spoke through its victim. Because foxes do not understand human social norms, a possessed person could become agitated over things that other people didn’t consider important. The possessed person would also speak publically of private matters, much to the embarrassment of everyone. These characteristics gave unprecedented freedom to those who normally lived under tight social rules. Wives were prone to possessions. The fox allowed them to take a break from the difficult dutie
s of being wives and speak out against their husbands’ families with less risk of punishment.[70] The victim lashed out against injustices. Combining this threat with other fox traits gave women social power normally reserved for men. This transfer of social power can be found in Chinese stories. In these stories, the fox seduces the wife, but this seduction benefits the family and gives the wife power over the family. I will paraphrase one such story:
In the Jiajing period, a fox seduces the wife of a Dezhou man named Zhou. When he discovers this, it troubles him until his wife starts telling the fox what they lack. Soon, these items appear at the house, and Zhou’s family grows wealthy. And the fox, speaking through the wife, offers business advice that benefits the family. To honor his wife’s fox lover, Zhou builds a den for the fox behind the family home. Years later, his grandson forgets why this pile of straw sits behind the house and plans to build his room over the spot. In response, the fox (through the grandson’s possessed wife) threatens to make the family poor. The terrified grandson replaces the den and makes it larger. Satisfied, the fox continues seducing new wives and bringing riches.[71]
Imported stories like this influenced both the idea of fox-ownership and the public view of possession. Possession was seen as negative. Wild fox possession led to erratic behavior. However, through spiritual training, a wild fox taking up residence in a wife could become a source of wealth or spiritual power. A high-class fox benefited a family. Because of these possibilities, fox possession was viewed as a mixed curse and blessing. Revealing a family’s private matters caused problems, but for many, the wealth such possession brought may have been worth it. Fox possession provided a way for the wife to become an important figure in the household, just like Zhou’s wife. Using possession as a means to speak out against society and family wasn’t unique to Japan. Hysteria had long been known in the West as a tool that allowed people to criticize social norms and express discontent without punishment.[72]
Culture-Bound Hysteria
Modern psychology likes to categorize fox possession as hysteria, but this label poses problems. Fox possession is a culture-bound syndrome. Shoving the disease into a Western category denies the heritage fox possession has in Japanese and Chinese folklore. The label breaks the link between possession, family history, and the experiences the victims express while afflicted with a fox.[73] That said, the Western idea of hysteria provides some insight on how fox possession involves more than just the individual and her family.
While China shares stories of fox spirits inhabiting people, Japanese stories go far beyond their inspiration. These stories provide the groundwork for mass hysteria. Everyone in a village knows the stories and knows what possession can look like. It’s similar to witch stories found in Medieval Europe. People blamed witches for outbreaks of hysteria in the same way rural Japanese villagers blamed foxes. All cultures report cases of mass hysteria, and it affects women more often than men. No one knows why. [74]
Dr. Shinshi Kadawaki in the 1890s found three conditions necessary for fox possession. First, the person had to know fox stories and believe those stories. Next, the person needed to grow up in an area where belief in fox spirits and stories were common. Finally, the person needed to lack skepticism.[75] The beliefs that led to outbreaks of hysteria also provided solutions. Traditional treatments of fox possession often involved public acts, such as Michiko’s memorial service and spiritual training. These public treatments included the entire village, and the treatment drew on the common understanding of what a fox is. All of this contributes to an outbreak of hysteria.
Stories of fox possession share many similarities to what happened in Salem Massachusetts during the witch trials. Two young girls, Betty Parris and her cousin Abigail Williams, screamed, threw things, contorted, and other signs of possession. The entire town listened to Betty and Abigail’s accusations and acted upon them. The town was caught up in hysteria. For young girls in a society where women held little authority, this must have been a heady experience. They could speak their minds without punishment. Japanese women possessed by foxes experienced similar freedom within their families.
The hysteria of fox possession threatened the fabric of a village and its families. When a member of Shogun Hideyoshi was possessed, mass hysteria became a national concern. The Shogun realized this and dispatched a letter to one of the most prominent Inari shrines:
To the Inari God:
Ukita’s daughter is now babbling, apparently possessed by a wild fox. I hope that the fox will be dispersed immediately. When no suitable measures are taken, a nation-wide fox hunt will be ordered.
P.S.
The chief priest of the Yoshida Shrine was also notified concerning this matter.
Hideyoshi [76]
The household of the Shogun wouldn’t stoop to stuffing a daughter’s eyes and nose with sulfur. Other deaths caused by well-meaning family members of fox victims forced the feudal Japanese government to push people toward trained priests and exorcists. If even the Shogun had to beseech the god Inari for help, what could a peasant family expect to do on their own?
The Shogun threatened Inari with a nation-wide fox hunt should the fox fail to leave his adopted granddaughter. This suggests how news of the fox could spread across the whole of Japan, and it shows how possession was a serious matter. A nation-wide fox hunt would consume a vast amount of resources and time. At the same time, such a hunt would dispel any mass hysteria outbreaks the news may cause. Luckily, the letter seemed to work. Hideyoshi didn’t have to order the nation-wide fox hysteria-fueled hunt after all.
Hideyoshi’s letter links wild foxes with the god Inari. What does the goddess of rice have to do with foxes and fox possession?
Chapter 5 Fox and Rice
The association of the fox with the god of wealth and rice is unique to Japan. Chinese divine foxes, the nine-tails, are associated with good omens, but unlike Japanese nine-tailed foxes, they are not the messengers of a popular god. Inari is the most popular deity in Japan. Conservative estimates number between 20,000 and 30,000 public Inari shrines. Many homes also have their own small shrines.[77] Who is Inari? And how did the Japanese fox become so closely associated with this god?
Inari’s History
Inari began as a local deity of the Kyoto area. His first shrines appeared in the 8th century. Built on three hills overlooking the fertile Kamagawa plains, Inari was just one of several local harvest gods.[78] Over time, he absorbed the other deities in the area. Inari began as the god of rice, but because rice was used as a currency he also became closely associated with wealth. Rice served as the symbol of agriculture and of life in ancient Japan. Rice underpinned the whole of Japanese society. Any god associated with rice would become one of the most important deities simply because of the importance of rice.
Like the fox stories that eventually intertwined with Inari, rice came from China. Rice is a species of grass that can be grown anywhere with ample water. In feudal Japan, people ate rice for every meal, and the plant was used to make flour, alcohol, vinegar, and other products. Inari didn’t become the most popular god until the Heian period (645-1185), and he remains the most popular deity in modern Japan.[79]
Time and the telling of his stories gradually changed Inari’s gender from male to female. In official mythology, Inari is male but in the popular imagination, Inari is female.[80] Inari’s first shrine has an interesting founding story. Because of the age of this story, Inari is referred to as male.
A proud, rich man liked to use mochi, rice cakes, as targets for his archery practice. One day, the soul of the Rice-god had enough. He transformed into the shape of a great white bird and flew away. The rich man saw the bird and became scared at the bad omen. He consulted an oracle about what he witnessed. The oracle told the rich man he would lose all of his wealth because of his wickedness and insults toward the Rice-god. In the hope to make amends and avoid his fate, the rich man built a shrine to the Rice-god on Mount Inari, where the rich man lived.[81]
> In the earliest shrine stories, we can already see Inari’s power over rice and wealth. Japanese deities are commonly named after the areas in which they live. Inari is named after Mount Inari. It can be difficult to determine which name came first: the land or the god. Did you notice how foxes are not mentioned? Inari and the Japanese fox didn’t become associated until later. Some of the earliest elements of Inari beliefs foreshadow the traits the Japanese fox developed. For example, neglecting sacred trees or a shrine dedicated to Inari leads to punishment, and the punishment most often involves madness that resembles fox possession.[82] Once the fox became associated with Inari, foxes began to appear in these stories.
Fox and Goddess
When I started my research, I thought it odd how the Goddess of Rice and the Japanese fox were related. After all, what does a fox have to do with rice and farming? Quite a bit, I learned. Foxes hunt in farmers’ fields and pass between farmsteads and forests with ease. The fox’s status as a boundary creature gives the fox special abilities beyond what we’ve already seen.[83] The fox tails are thought to be magic. As a fox runs through crops hunting rodents, frogs, and other food, their tails fertilize the field. This belief in fox-tail magic isn’t isolated to Japan. European fox folktales share this belief. Despite these beliefs, farmers in Japan and Europe do not hesitate to set dogs on foxes that overstay their welcome. The conflict between dogs and foxes begins here. This belief in a magical fox tail provides a foundation for the fox’s later association with Inari. How the fox actually became associated with Inari is a mystery. However, one particular folktale explains how the Japanese vixen became a divine messenger.
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