To the north of the capital, Kyoto, there lived a pair of very old white foxes in the neighborhood of Funaoka hill. The he-fox was a silver-white-furred animal and looked as if he were wearing a garment of bristling silver needles. He always kept his tail raised while walking. The she-fox had a deer’s head with a fox’s body. Their five cubs would follow them wherever they went. Each of these cubs had a different face.
During the Koin Era, the two white foxes, accompanied by the five cubs, made their way to the Inari shrine at Fushimi, leaving their earth near Funaoka hill. When they reached Mount Inari on which the shrine stood, they prostrated themselves in front of the shrine and said reverently:
“O Great God! We are naturally gifted with wisdom though we were born as animals. Now we sincerely wish to do our part of the peace and prosperity of the world. We regret, however, that we are not able to realize our purpose. O , Great God! We pray from the bottom of our hearts that you would graciously allow us to become members of the household of this shrine so that we will be able to realize our humble wish!”
Greatly impressed by the sincerity with which these words were spoken, the sacred altar of the shrine instantly shook as if by an earthquake. And the next moment, the foxes heard the solemn voice of the Inari God coming from behind the sacred bamboo screen:
“We are always endeavoring to find some means to bestow the divine favor of Buddha on all men by doing our best. Your desire, foxes, is really praiseworthy. We will allow you, all of you, to stay here to do your service in this shrine forever. We expect you to assist with sympathy the worshipers and the people in general with the faith. We order you, He-Fox, to serve at the Upper Temple. We give you the name of Osusuki. And you, She-Fox, shall serve at the Lower Temple. We give you the name of Akomachi.”
Hereupon each of the foxes including the five cubs made ten oaths and began to comply with the wishes of all the people.[84]
Did you notice how Inari spoke of Buddha? Shinto beliefs—Inari is a Shinto goddess—mix with Buddhist beliefs in ways that make them difficult to separate. I will avoid that rabbit hole, but it is important to mention. It suggests how fox folklore, Shinto beliefs, and Japanese Buddhism entangle. The foxes in the story are already divine white foxes. These foxes are also compassionate—they want to help people. The story tells us that Inari foxes are wise and desire to help. The Koin era dates between 810 and 823 AD, about the same time fox stories first appear in Japanese literature. The folktale suggests Inari and foxes became associated soon after the stories emigrated from China. The Japanese fox existed in oral telling long before the written collections circulated.
In any case, the story gives Inari a family of messengers. All religions have some sort of messenger that goes between God and humanity. For example, Christianity has Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and angels who act as messengers. As Inari grew from a local harvest god to the Goddess of Rice for all of Japan, she needed messengers. The folktale of the fox family appears just as Inari’s popularity explodes. The most storied animal became associated with the most important crop in Japan.
Responsibilities of Divinity
Inari foxes are not mere wild foxes. They do not play tricks or possess people. However, they are charged with reining their wild sisters and punishing evil-doing humans. This is why Hideyoshi sent a letter to Inari when his adopted granddaughter was possessed. It’s a pity people can’t see the sisters in such encounters. Possession stories blandly speak of the Inari fox driving out the wild fox. Details about how this is done are rare. I picture the scenes as something like this:
The majestic, gleaming Inari fox stands over her ruddy, smirking sister. The Inari’s nine tails slap her irritation. “Again, you play this trick?”
The red fox shrugs. “Humans are fun.”
The Inari fox growls and lunges, forcing the red fox away from the hapless human. “Until one day I cannot save you. You can die, after all, even as a spirit.”
The red fox laughs and bounds away. She pauses and looks at her divine sister. “I am too smart for their kind.”
The Inari fox sighs.
Priests and families troubled by foxes call upon Inari. Inari’s name acts as a talisman against wild foxes. At night, people will not refer to a fox by her nameKitsune. They fear the word will call an evil fox. People use word Inariinstead. Let me clarify this. Not all wild foxes are evil. We’ve seen plenty of good foxes in our stories. The word kitsune is neutral. It can call an evil fox or a helpful fox. However, the word Inari will call only good foxes associated with the goddess.
Fox Statue or a Cat?
Beckoning fox statues surround public Inari shrines. These stone foxes carry scrolls in their mouths or sheaves of rice stalks. You can also see tiny versions of these beckoning statues in shops. Only these aren’t foxes; they are cats. In fact, shops around major Inari shrines sell these little cats. These porcelain statues, known as beckoning cats, are favorite talismans of geisha, prostitutes, and shop owners. A white body with black splotches suggests fur. It sits on its haunches and raises its left paw. Around its neck wraps a silk ribbon with various ornaments. Like the fox, the cat statue invites wealth. However, cats are not usually associated with wealth, but a story from the 17thcentury links the cat, fox, and money together.
During the early Tokugawa period, a prostitute by the name of Usugamo loved cats. She owned so many that she required a maid to carry her pets wherever she went. People whispered of bewitchment. Usugamo’s pimp demanded she rid herself of the cats. She refused. One day, a cat made a fuss while Usugamo visited her master. The cat meowed and tugged at her dress. The angry pimp drew a sword and beheaded the cat. The head flew up into the ceiling and caught a poisonous snake sliding down a support beam, saving both Usugamo and her master. The devastated Usugamo held a funeral for the cat and invited the entire red-light district. Afterward, she fell into a deep depression and refused to leave her room. Not one of her other cats could comfort her. One of her wealthy regular customers felt terrible for her. The man ordered a carving of the cat in expensive wood with a waving left paw. So exquisite was the gift that Usugamo broke out of her deep depression. She became so happy that she attracted more patrons than she did before. Over time, she became famous and wealthy. Soon other prostitutes and shopkeepers began to copy Usugamo’s cat statue in the hopes of having similar success. [85]
At first, I thought it odd that cats and foxes are symbols for fortune. After all, Inari foxes cannot be mistaken for cats. Inari fox statues look different from Japanese cat statues. However, while foxes can transform into cats, the relationship between feline and fox stretches further. In Chinese fox lore, foxes resemble cats.[86] In many regards, foxes resemble cats more than dogs. Foxes are solitary like cats rather than social hunters like wolves and dogs. Vertical pupils reflect light at night, and they stalk their prey similarly to a cat. Brightly-colored fox fur resembles the bright colorations of cats more than most dogs. Instead of hunting large prey like wolves, the fox seeks prey smaller than itself. Like cats, foxes are natural enemies of dogs.[87] Folktales emphasize these similarities. One Japanese folktale involving a fox trying to bewitch a rooster—foxes don’t limit their pranks to humans—shows the fox assuming the pose of the beckoning cat:
One evening a man, Ito by name, living in Tajima Province heard a tumult coming from a flock of chickens left feeding in a mulberry field at the back of the house.
He went out of the house and looked around. A rooster was going tottering toward a bamboo grove in the neighborhood.
Then he saw a fox in the shade of a big tree near the bamboo grove. The fox was standing on its hind legs and beckoning to the rooster with one of its paws after the manner of the maneki-neko [beckoning cat statue].
The fox was apparently trying to bewitch the rooster through its hypnotic power. But when Ito shouted, the fox vanished into the bamboo grove. Then the rooster, he saw, went in the direction of the house with unsteady steps.[88]
With stories about the fox’s relationsh
ip with riches, the fox’s shape-shifting ability, the fox’s cat-like traits, and stories like “Fox Bewitching a Rooster”, I can understand why folklore confuses foxes with cats. The cat benefits the most from this confusion. Fox statues around Inari shrines draw from both the powers of aged, white foxes and their status as messengers of the goddess. Some of this power rubs off on these lucky cat statues because of how much foxes behave like cats. Buying a statue near an Inari shrine is a bonus. Many shops in Japan also have small shrines dedicated to Inari. These shrines contain a statue of a squatting fox with its right paw, rather than its left, beckoning.[89]
The Job of the Inari Fox
Several stories speak of Inari foxes rewarding people. In one story, a samurai asks for silver and gold in return for forbidding a retainer from killing foxes. The fox messenger tells the samurai that riches make a man unhappy. Instead, the fox gives the samurai a reward proper to his social status: land. Riches and wealth differ. Riches are short-term gains, such as gold and silver. Wealth lasts and continues to generate riches. The samurai’s reward generated rice each year. This is a greater long-term reward than money.
Inari foxes relay prophecies and warnings from Inari in dreams.[90] But the ability of foxes to foresee danger and warn people extends beyond Inari foxes. Japanese fishermen listen to fox barks to determine the prospects for the coming day.[91] The tone and type of bark betray whether the fox is good or bad. Good foxes suggest a good day of fishing. Japanese and Ainu fisherman determine the weather based on these barks. While this appears to be another folk superstition, foxes really do bark to warn other foxes of inclement weather.[92]
Fishermen listened to barks, and other people asked Inari foxes for help with possession or other fox tricks. But there are people who wanted more. They wanted to command the many abilities of the fox. Such people are known as fox-sorcerers.
Chapter 6 The Sorcerer and the Fox
Some enterprising people discovered how to tap into the fox’s powers whenever they wanted. They convinced the wild fox to become a spiritual familiar through her sense of gratitude. Are you ready to learn how to catch your very own fox-familiar? Best go fry some rats!
First, a wannabe fox-sorcerer needs to find a pregnant fox in her den. Next, ready that fried rat and muster your patience. You have to feed the pregnant fox and protect her over the course of her pregnancy. If you prove to be an excellent caretaker, she will offer one of her kits. You then need to name your new familiar. Calling your familiar’s name summons her. Now the sorcerer needs to wait for his familiar to grow into an adult. Sounds good, right? There are some catches. Fox-familiars won’t stand for a promiscuous, lewd, or greedy master. You can only keep one familiar and cannot use your familiar to assuage your greed. The fox may also leave if she finds your conduct offensive. [93]
There you have it! Just be careful not to get bitten while feeding the mother fox or deluded by one of her pranks!
Unlike fox-owners, fox-sorcerer families cannot pass a fox to descendants. Fox-owners and fox-sorcerers enjoy the powers of foxes, but there is an important difference; the fox chooses fox-owners regardless of the family’s thoughts on the matter. Fox-sorcerers, on the other hand, seek and court foxes.
The earliest account of fox-sorcery appears in 1420. Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimichi discovered four members of his court were fox-sorcerers. The Shogun called exorcists to drive the familiars from the palace and exiled the perpetrators.[94]
Pipe Foxes
Province has a unique type of fox-familiar: the pipe fox. Unlike the fox-familiars of Ashikaga’s reign, pipe foxes are a special, small breed of wild fox. They hide in the sleeve of their masters’ robes. Full-size foxes use their powers of shapeshifting and illusion to hide. They must remain close at hand for when their masters need them. The pipe fox doesn’t need to expend her power. These fox-sorcerers are said to be known by their strange scent. The musk of the pipe fox clings to her master. As for her name, she is called a pipe fox because she can fit into a water pipe. In fact, some rats stand taller than her. It may seem strange to keep a small fox up your sleeve. After all, large wild foxes have more power. But the pipe fox became popular around 1849 because of her ability to explain people’s pasts and predict the future. Young women were fond of pipe foxes because of these abilities.[95]
The Use of Familiars
Whereas the pipe fox is useful for conversing like a dandy, full-sized wild foxes are preferred because of their shape-shifting abilities. In the story of the “Lucky Teakettle,” the fox uses her shape-shifting skills to make a man rich. Fox-sorcerers gain the shape-shifting ability of the fox to use in similar ways. Within limits. Fox-sorcerers cannot be overly greedy or exploit their familiars. Otherwise, the fox will leave. Not only can a fox familiar transform graves into palaces and refuse into feasts, the fox can also mess with a rival’s livestock. A wise fox-sorcerer can frame a rival to look like a fox-owner. Let’s revisit Takeshi for an example.
After Takeshi was accused of being a fox-owner, his neighbor, Akira, enjoyed salting the wound. Takeshi’s wealth soon decreased, and he found himself making a meager living by gathering firewood from the nearby forest. One day, Takeshi returned home to see a strange blue glow coming from his windows. His neighbors gathered and stared at the glow while Akira gloated from his window. Takeshi sagged. Everyone knew what that blue glow meant: fox.
What fox? Takeshi wished he had a fox. He wouldn’t have to collect firewood if he did!
As time passed, Takeshi suffered more problems. People’s things started appearing on his doorstep. He felt eyes watching him when he went for wood. Soon, few people wanted to deal with him. Oh, no one said it. They just bowed their thanks when they found some lost item by Takeshi’s house, but he knew what they thought.
Using a familiar to frame a rival would be a simple matter. Simply send your familiar to pilfer things and drop them off at your rival’s house like Akira does. But why frame a rival when your familiar can possess him?
Takeshi felt strange. His legs refused to listen, and his mind felt as thick as the fog coming down from Mount Inari. Why was he going to the village square? He didn’t know.
The square bustled. People rushed about, preparing for the upcoming festival. Several people glanced away. Takeshi stopped and jabbed a finger at a neighbor lugging a bundle of bamboo.
“Mr. Ishi. You have been sleeping with Ms. Kyoko!” Takeshi heard his voice ring out of its own accord.
Everyone stopped and turned to him.
What am I doing? Takeshi thought. He tried to clamp his mouth shut, but his body refused to listen. His finger skewered the head council member, Mr. Yamato.
“And you. Your breath could melt iron. Everyone says so.”
His finger and words stabbed at each of his neighbors, his friends. His accusing, vulgar finger passed Akira. Takeshi’s heart fluttered. He understood why his body refused to listen.
What is the best method to get rid of your rival as a fox-sorcerer? Have your fox possess the man and publicly confess his deepest thoughts. A fox-familiar, particularly a high-class one, can possess someone and learn everything the victim knows. The fox can drive a rival to self-sabotage, like our poor Takeshi.
Most fox-sorcerers wanted fox familiars because of their divination, but some also wanted a fox because of their power over fire.
Fox Fire
Fox-fire, known to the Japanese as kitsune-bi, came with the fox on her journey from China. The Chinese fox lights these blue flames by stroking her tail. Fox-fire comes in four types: a cluster of small flames, a large fireball, an eerie blue glow, or the soft glowing lights seen during fox wedding processions.[96] Foxes marry for life to only one mate and hold weddings when the sun shines while raining.[97] Real foxes form monogamous relationships, so the idea of fox marriage is grounded in reality. We can’t see the wedding procession. We can only see foxfire's soft glow. Fox-familiars sometimes marry. Being a familiar doesn’t stop them from living as a fox.
Fox-fire a
ppears in European stories as well. Known as will-o’-the-wisp, elf fire, or pixie lights, the phenomenon has a long history. In Latin, foxfire is called ignis fatuus, fool’s fire, because of how it can lead travelers astray at night. A Japanese fox-sorcerer can use fox-fire to the same ends. Foxfire is real. Sometimes logs can glow with it, and it appears in rice paddies and swamps.[98] When certain bacteria feed off dead plant matter, they belch gases like phosphine, diphosphane, and methane. These gasses burn with little heat when exposed to oxygen. But weather conditions must be just right. The best conditions to see dancing fox-lights are at night before a storm or when it rains on a sunny, summer day.[99] In any case, a good fox-sorcerer knows how to use foxfire for his own ends.
Divination
Foxfire, shape-shifting, and possession. You’d think these abilities would entice everyone to feed a pregnant fox. Do you remember Shinano Province’s pipe foxes? Their main purpose was to predict the future and help in conversations. Most people wanted to become fox-sorcerers for these abilities. Fishermen listen to fox cries to determine the weather and chances of a good catch. A personal fox would be even more useful. You could ask the fox the outcomes of a decision before you make it.
The fox’s ability to see into the future extends as far back as her shape-shifting ability. The Ainu would listen to fox cries for omens, just like Japanese fisherman. However, the Ainu listened specifically for the cries of the lucky black fox. Most Ainu households possessed a fox skull used for divination.[100] In another old practice, people bury a fox up to its neck and place a plate of food just out of reach. As the fox slowly starves to death, her spirit passes to the food. A sculpture grinds the food, mixes it with clay, and fashions a fox statue for divination.[101] A kinder method involves visiting a shrine, asking a question of Inari, and leaving a plate of red beans and rice for a fox to eat. Red beans and rice are thought to be a fox favorite. If even half the plate is eaten, the omen is good.
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