Kitsune - Clever Like A Fox

Over the last few weeks I have been doing some research on Yokai. Yokai are supernatural monsters, sprits in Japanese folklore. There is an amazing database of Yokai stories online: https://yokai.com. I have also been speaking to some of my Japanese friends about Yokai. There are many different types of Yokai creatures. One of my favourites and more well-known are Kitsune.

What are Kitsune?

Kitsune means fox in Japanese. Kitsune are very popular creatures in Japanese folklore. They are also heavily featured in Chinese and East Asian countries. Kitsune have many magical abilities such as:

• The ability to shapeshift. Kitsune have the ability to shapeshift into human form and often disguise themselves as beautiful women or giant monsters. Kitsune were said to have kept a human form over long periods of time and often led long human lives in this disguise. In some stories the disguise fails when the Kitsune becomes careless or drunk revealing a fox tail, fang or fox ears.

The FoxWoman - Michinekomata

• Wisdom and intelligence. Kitsune are known to have very long lives, in some cases they can live to be over 3000 years old. The older the fox is the more tails it has. Some of the more famous foxes have up to nine tails. With age comes wisdom, older Kitsune are said to be extremely intelligent. In some stories Kitsune are said to have long lives as they drain the life-force from humans around them.
• The ability to produce fire. There are many stories about Kitsune producing fire by breathing or wagging their tails.

Kitsune and Nine Tailed Foxes in Popular Media

Kitsune are known widely across Japanese media especially in anime and manga, however, westerners exposed to this media most likely do not understand the links to Japanese mythology. Growing up in Ireland I enjoyed watching Pokemon on TV. As I got older I started watching the anime Naruto. At that time I didn’t know the influences Japanese mythology had on these shows. For example in the anime Naruto, the main character turns into a nine tailed fox. In the Pokemon series there is a fire type Pokemon called Vulpix who evolves into Ninetales that are based on Kitsune. In the Pokemon card game, there is a Ninetales card with the ability “Nine-Tailed Shapeshifter”. In the video game Okami, one of the major boss battles is against a beastly fox with nine tails. All of these characters are portraying a Kitsune.

Zenko Kitsune and Yako Kitsune

There are two main types of Kitsune, Zenko Kitsune and Yako Kitsune. Zenko Kitsune are good, kind creatures that provide protection and luck to humans. If you have visited the famous Inari shrine in Kyoto you may remember seeing large fox statues at the shrine.  These are Zenko Kitsune. They often have a key or a scroll in their mouth which provides messages from the gods. Japanese people often leave fried tofu at Inari shrines as this is the Kitsune favourite type of food.

 Flicker - St Steve 

Yako Kitsune on the other hand are mischievous, cunning creatures. They often play pranks on humans or disguise themselves as beautiful Japanese women. One of the most famous stories is about a Kitsune named Tomamo no Mae. It is said that she attempted to kill the then emperor of Japan Emperor Konoe. She disguised herself as a beautiful girl who the emperor fell in love with. Soon the emperor starts to feel very ill and they discovered that the young woman was in fact a Kitsune and was draining the life from the emperor in an attempt to become the ruler of Japan. Tomamo no Mae did not succeed in becoming the ruler of Japan, however, the emperor died young and heirless which resulted in the rise of the first shoguns in Japan.

Matthew Meyer yokai.com

My Observations

The Kitsune are incredible shapeshifters. From reading these stories I can’t help think of other shape shifting characters across Celtic and Norse mythology. What is interesting is that in most of these stories the shapeshifters original form is a god in human form that has the ability to shapeshift into an animal form. For example Loki from Norse mythology is known to have changed his form into other humanoid characters as well as a horse and a giant. In Celtic mythology Morrigan, the goddess of war often changed her form into a raven or a bull.

The only case I can recall of an animal changing their appearance into a human form originates in Scottish folklore. The Selkie, a mythical seal creature is known to transform into attractive men or women to lure humans into the water where they ultimately drown.

Now that I have learned more about Kitsune I will be more observant if I am visiting any Inari shrines in the future. There are also some festivals in Japan where people dress up as Kitsune and wear fox masks. For example there is Kitsune no Yomatsuri festival each year in early October in Niigata prefecture. At this festival a huge meal of fried tofu is prepared and left out for the Kitsune. A lantern procession is arranged in which people dress as Kitsune and a famous dance is performed. I would love to experience this festival or others like this before I return to Ireland.