kitsune

File:Obake Karuta 3-01.jpg}} ('monster card') from the early 19th century depicts a {{lang|ja-Latn|kitsune}}. The associated game involves matching clues from folklore to pictures of specific creatures.]]

{{lang|ja-Latn|Kitsune}}, though literally a 'fox', becomes in folklore a 'fox spirit', or perhaps a type of {{lang|ja-Latn|yōkai}}. They are ascribed with intelligence and magical or supernatural powers, especially so with long-living foxes.{{sfn|Smyers|1999|pp=127–128}}

The kitsune exhibit the ability of {{lang|ja-Latn|bakeru}}, or transforming its shape and appearance, like the tanuki{{Refn|As in the as in the proverbial {{nihongo|kitsune shichi bake, tanuki ya bake|狐七化け、狸八化け|extra='fox shapeshifts 7 times, racoon dog shapeshifts 8 times'}}.}}{{efn|The racoon dog is commonly referred to as "badger" by Western orientalists, e.g. de Visser.{{sfn|de Visser|1908a}}}} as well as the ability to {{lang|ja-Latn|bakasu}}, i.e. beguile or bewitch; these terms are related to the generic term {{lang|ja-Latn|bakemono}} meaning "spectre" or "goblin".{{sfn|Casal|1959|p=6}} Another scholar ascribes the kitsune with being a "disorienting deity" (that makes the traveler lose his way){{Refn|Itō's translation for {{nihongo|madoeshi kami|迷ヘシ神|extra='beguiling god'}} which he takes from a title of a tale in Konjaku monogatarishū. Itō also uses the term {{nihongo|kitsubaka|狐化|extra="Bewitching Fox"}} but this is not standard vocabulary for a lay person (not listed in Kōjien, 2nd rev. ed.), and perhaps is insider jargon, as Itō provides the instance of its use among researchers doing this type of fieldwork.}} and such capabilities were also ascribed to badgers{{sfn|Casal|1959|pp=6, 14}} (actually tanuki or raccoon dog) and occasionally to cats (cf. bakeneko).{{sfn|Casal|1959|p=6}}

The archetypal method by which the kitsune tricks ({{lang|ja-Latn|bakasu}}) humans is to lead them astray, or make them lose their way. The experiences of people losing their way (usually in the mountain after dark) and blaming the kitsune fox has been recounted first or secondhand to folklorists well into the present times.{{efn|Ito says "someone" losing the way, which is understood to mean the informant or someone other.}}

Other typical standard tricks occur as folktale{{efn|And subtypes of folktales called {{illm|seken banashi|ja|世間話}}, "chat over trifles of life", used by Itsuko Yamada who is cited.}} types: people are tricked into taking a "bath in a night-soil pot" (i.e., manure pit{{Refn|The fox may also trick people into falling into this {{nihongo|koe dame|肥溜め|extra='manure pit'}}}}{{Refn|Lafcadio Hearn: "enter a cesspool in the belief they are taking a bath"{{sfn|Hearn|1910|p=242|postscript=; [1896], p. 336}}}}), or eating "horse-dung dumpling",{{Refn|Hearn: "eat horse-dung in the belief they are eating mochi"{{sfn|Hearn|1910|p=242|postscript=; [1896], p. 336}}}} or accepting "leaf money" (cf. {{section link||Trickster}}).{{Refn|"104. Taking a Bath in a Nigh-soil Pot", "105. The Horse-dung Dumpling", "108. Leaf Money"{{sfn|Seki|1966|pp=57–58}}}}{{Refn|Keigo Seiki first published his folktale type in Japanese, but it used a different numbering system. So in Seki's {{nihongo|Nihon mukashibanashi shūsei|日本昔話集成}} (or {{nihongo|~taisei|大成}}), the major category is honkaku or genuine type mukashibanashi tale, mid-category is "People and Foxes" (#270-#287) of which we have as sampled by the sources #270 {{nihongo|shiri nozoki|「尻のぞき」|extra='butt-peeking'}}, #271A {{nihongo|furo wa koetsubo|「風呂は肥壺」|extra='bath is nightsoil pit'}}, #271B {{nihongo|uma no kuso dango|「馬の糞団子」|extra='horse dung dumpling'}}, #274{{nihongo|uma no kuso dango|銭は木の葉」|extra='money is tree-leaf'}}}}{{sfn|Sakaita|1996|p=1310}}

The "fox wife" theme occurs in a number of noted medieval works (e.g. Nihon ryōiki),{{harvnb|Bathgate|2004}}. Chapter 2. "Foxes, Wives and Spirits: Shapeshifting and the Language of Marriage", pp. 33–70 but on that theme, the story of nine-tailed vixen Tamamo-no-mae ('Jewel-algae ladyship') and sessho-seki ("murder stone") deserve special attention,{{harvnb|Bathgate|2004}}. Chapter 1. "The Jewel Maiden and the Murder Stone: Orientations to Shapeshifting and Signification", pp. 1–32 as well as the story of a vixen Kuzunoha giving birth to the astrologist-magician Abe no Seimei.{{harvnb|Bathgate|2004}}. Chapter 5.

The "Fox wife" is also a folktale type category.{{URL|1=https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/9542001 |2=Nihon mukashibanashi shūsei II.i (honkaku mukashibanashi)}}, # 116ABC {{nihongo|kitsune nyōbō|「狐女房」|extra='fox wife'}}, pp. 161–170{{Refn|"147. Fox Wife".{{sfn|Seki|1966|p=78}}}} There is a weather myth that associates sunshine rain with the kitsune's wedding (Cf. {{section link||Kitsune no yomeiri}}), and the folktale type for it.{{Refn|#285 {{nihongo|kitsune no yometori|「狐の嫁取」|extra='fox's wife-taking'}}.{{sfn|Seki|1955|p=1362}}}}

The fox jewel or tama (cf. {{section link||Fox jewel}}) sometimes occur in folktale tradition as something held important by the fox, sometimes as the item necessary for it to transform or conduct other magic.{{sfn|Smyers|1999|p=126}} This and the kitsunebi ('fox-fire') which the creature is reputed capable of firing off (cf. {{section link||Kitsunebi control}}) are standard parts of the pictorial depictions of kitsune, especially on a white kitsune or byakko {{sfn|Hearn|1910|loc=p. 221 and note}} ({{section link||Iconography}}).

The {{lang|ja-Latn|kitsune}} came to be associated with Inari, a Shinto {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} or spirit, and serve as its messengers ({{section link||Inari Shinto deity}}). The fox also figures in Buddhist as the mount of the deva Dakini, and there is some conflation between the two deities ({{section link||Buddhist context}}).

Another dimension is that the kitsune was thought capable of spiritual possession or kitsunetsuki (q.v.), which was a superstition widespread throughout Japan. This is multi-faceted: the illness causing possession might be sought to be exorcized by hiring some shaman, but the fox can turn into a benevolent guardian spirit also,{{sfn|Bathgate|2004|p=70}} or a case of both as in the case of an 11th century tale {{sfn|Bathgate|2004|p=73}}{{sfn|de Visser|1908a|p=39}}{{harvnb|Foster|2015|p=182}}; {{harvnb|Foster|2024|p=228}} (cf. Kitsunetsuki#Hungry fox).

For an unwanted possession to be exorcised, a professional miko priestess (as in the foregoing tale) or a shugendō priest would be consulted, well into the 20th century as the superstition persisted.{{sfn|Fairchild|1962|p=38}} A miko or itako purports to be capable of forcing a controlled possession of herself by a fox spirit, and engage in {{illm|kuchiyose|ja|口寄せ|lt=kuchiyose}}, a sort of séance to speak on behalf of the spirit.{{harvnb|Fairchild|1962|pp=37–38}}: kitsune no kuchiyose; {{harvnb|Fairchild|1962|p=120}}: a izuna kuchiyose might also be considered fox spirit summoning ; but {{harvnb|Fairchild|1962|p=57}}, et passim, a miko performs such kuchiyose for various spirits not necessarily of the fox kind.

The concept of certain families being "fox owners" (kitsune-mochi) due to it taming a jinko or ninko were written about in the Edo Period and Meiji era, but appear to be localized around Izumo Province (also further described under kitsunetsuki) which was the backdrop of Lafcadio Hearn's folkloristics.{{sfn|Hearn|1910|p=224}} In Izumo, the "owner" families were feared as being able to unleash the fox spirits on normal people.{{sfn|Hearn|1910|p=235}}

In other regions, it is only the yamabushi or lay priests trained in shugendō who have the reputation of using {{nihongo|kiko|気狐|extra=lit. "air/chi fox"}}.{{sfn|Casal|1959|p=24}} In some cases, the fox or fox-spirit summoned is called the osaki.{{sfn|Casal|1959|pp=24–25}} The familiar may also be known as the {{nihongo|kuda-gitsune|管狐|extra=lit. "tube fox, pipe fox"}} because they were believed to be so small, or become so small as to fit inside a tube.{{sfn|Casal|1959|p=25}}{{sfn|de Visser|1908a|pp=66, 92, 109, 111, 157}}

The kitsune appears in numerous Japanese works. Noh ({{illm|Kogitsunemaru#Kokaji|ja|小狐丸#謡曲『小鍛冶』|lt=Kokaji}}), kyogen ({{interlanguage link|Tsurigitsune|ja|釣狐|lt=Tsurigitsune|extra="Fox Trapping"}}), or bunraku and kabuki ({{illm|Ashiya Dōman ōuchi kagami|ja|芦屋道満大内鑑|lt=Ashiya Dōman ōuchi kagami}}, Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura) plays derived from folk tales feature them,{{sfn|Nozaki|1961|pp=109–124}}{{harvnb|Hearn|1910|p=241}}: "the most interesting part of fox-literature belongs to the Japanese stage". However, Hearn's example which he excepts as if it is a play with dialogues, is Hizakurige, an Edo Period novel widely known in Japan. as do contemporary works such as native animations, comic books and video games.{{Cite book|editor-last=Weinstock|editor-first=Jeffrey Andrew|last=Nakamura|first=Miri|title=The Ashgate Encyclopedia of Literary and Cinematic Monsters|date=2014|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-1-4724-0060-4|pages=358–360|chapter=Kitsune}}

The full etymology of {{lang|ja-Latn|kitsune}} is unknown. The oldest known usage of the word is in the text Shin'yaku Kegonkyō Ongi Shiki, dating to 794.

Other old sources include the aforementioned story in the Nihon ryōiki (810–824) and Wamyō Ruijushō (c. 934). These old sources are written in Man'yōgana, which clearly identifies the historical form of the word (when rendered into a Latin-alphabet transliteration) as {{lang|ja-Latn| ki₁tune}}. Following several diachronic phonological changes, this became {{lang|ja-Latn|kitsune}}.

The fox-wife narrative in Nihon ryōiki gives the folk etymology {{lang|ja-Latn|kitsu-ne}} as 'come and sleep',{{sfn|Smyers|1999|p=72}}{{sfn|Brinkley|1902|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=2jnQAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA197 197–198]}} while in a double-entendre, the phrase can also be parsed differently as {{lang|ja-Latn|ki-tsune}} to mean 'always comes'.{{sfn|Smyers|1999|p=72}}{{sfn|de Visser|1908a|p=20}}

Many etymological suggestions have been made, though there is no general agreement:

• Myōgoki (1268) suggests that it is so called because it is "always ({{lang|ja-Latn|tsune}}) yellow ({{lang|ja-Latn|ki}})".

• Arai Hakuseki in {{lang|ja-Latn|Tōga}} (1717) suggests that {{lang|ja-Latn|ki}} means 'stench', {{lang|ja-Latn|tsu}} is a possessive particle, and {{lang|ja-Latn|ne}} is related to {{lang|ja-Latn|inu}}, the word for 'dog'.
• Tanikawa Kotosuga in {{lang|ja-Latn|Wakun no Shiori}} (1777–1887) suggests that {{lang|ja-Latn|ki}} means 'yellow', {{lang|ja-Latn|tsu}} is a possessive particle, and {{lang|ja-Latn|ne}} is related to {{lang|ja-Latn|neko}}, the word for 'cat'.
• Ōtsuki Fumihiko in {{lang|ja-Latn|Daigenkai}} (1932–1935) proposes that the word comes from {{lang|ja-Latn|kitsu}}, which is an onomatopoeia for the bark of a fox, and {{lang|ja-Latn|ne}}, which may be an honorific referring to a servant of an Inari shrine.
• Nozaki also suggests that the word was originally onomatopoetic: {{lang|ja-Latn|kitsu}} represented a fox's yelp and came to be the general word for 'fox'; {{lang|ja-Latn|-ne}} signified an affectionate mood.{{sfn|Nozaki|1961|page=3}}

{{lang|ja-Latn|Kitsu}} is now archaic; in modern Japanese, a fox's cry is transcribed as {{lang|ja-Latn|kon kon}} or {{lang|ja-Latn|gon gon}}.

In the Nihon Shoki (or Nihongi, compiled 720), the fox is mentioned twice, as omens.{{sfn|de Visser|1908a|p=12}} In the year 657 a byakko or "white fox" was reported to have been witnessed in Iwami Province,{{sfn|de Visser|1908a|p=12}} possibly a sign of good omen.{{efn|The translator Aston's footnoted opinion that this was a good omen is endorsed by Smyers.{{sfn|Smyers|1999|p=76}}}} And in 659, a fox bit off the end of a creeping vine plant held by the laborer (shrine construction worker),{{efn|Although Aston translated that the governor (Kuni no miyatsuko) was ordered to repair the "Istuki Shrine", modern scholarship identify this as the Kumano Taisha in {{interlanguage link|Ou District|ja|意宇郡}}, Izumo Province.{{efn|{{harvnb|Watanabe|1974|p=87}}: "The reasons given by the Nihon Shoki for renovating the [Kumano] [S]hrine were that a fox had appeared in the Ou district, bitten off a piece of vine, and then disappeared..[and] a dog had bitten off the forearm.. and left it at Iuya Shrine"}} And it was a conscripted laborer from this Ou District who was holding the vine, which was a construction material for rebuilding the shrine, according to Ujitani's translation.}} interpreted as an inauspicious omen foreshadowing the death of Empress Saimei the following year.{{sfn|de Visser|1908a|p=12}}{{sfn|Smyers|1999|p=76}}

For pre-historic considerations before the chronicles, Cf. {{section link||Foxes in Japanese archaeology}}

{{For|general Eastern and Chinese myth|nine-tailed fox|Sky Fox (mythology)|fox spirits}}

File:NineTailsFox.JPG]]

{{illm|Asakawa Zen'an|ja|朝川善庵}} (1850) argued that there were three classes of foxes, gradable by age, the sky or celestial tenko,{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|The tenko being designated "celestial fox" or "heavenly fox" is preferable over "sky fox" because "sky" could apply to kūko. Casal renders tenko as celestial vs. {{nihongo|kūko|空狐|extra='air fox"}}.{{sfn|Casal|1959|p=3}}}} the white fox byakko and black fox, of which the tenko was the most ancient,{{Refn|Zen'an's essay, sourced vaguely to Taiping Guangji and other sources. The tenko being the most ancient is citable to {{illm|Dai Fu|zh|戴孚}}'s Guang yi ji.}} but had no corporeal form and was strictly a spirit{{Refn|Zenan's essay (1891)'s: "{{lang|ja|"精神のみ存在して形はなし}}" exactly echoes de Visser (1908a)'s "mere spirit (精神) without shape".{{harvnb|de Visser|1908a|p=35}}}}(cf. {{section link||Classifications}}).

In Japanese folklore, {{lang|ja-Latn|Kitsune}} have as many as nine tails{{sfn|Smyers|1999|p=129}} (but this is derived straight from Chinese classics, as explained below). Generally, a greater number of tails indicates an older and more powerful {{lang|ja-Latn|Kitsune}}; in fact, some folktales say that a fox will only grow additional tails after it has lived 100 years.{{sfn|Hamel|1915|p=91}}{{efn|The typical lifespan of a wild 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.{{cite web |url=http://academia.issendai.com/fox-misconceptions.shtml#tails |title=Kitsune, Kumiho, Huli Jing, Fox |access-date=2006-12-14 |date=2003-04-28}}

The story was later introduced or invented (established by the 14th century), that the queen-consort Daji (Japanese pronunciation: {{lang|zh-Latn|Dakki}}) was really a nine-tailed fox that led to the destruction of Yin/Shang dynasty,{{efn|The Western Zhou which succeeded was also destroyed in the end by her becoming concubine to its last king.}} and the same vixen some 2,000 years later appeared as Tamamo-no-mae in Japan (q.v., also {{section link||Tamamo-no-mae}} and Hokusai's painting of Tamamo previously as Lady Kayō of India). Tamamo clearly draws from Chinese myth and literature,{{sfn|de Visser|1908a|p=8}}{{sfn|Bathgate|2004|p=3}}{{sfn|Goff|1997|pp=67–68}} so her being depicted as a golden-furred and {{Nihongo|kyūbi no kitsune|九尾の狐||'nine-tailed fox'}}{{sfn|Hearn|1910|p=241|postscript=; [1896], p. 335}} matches precisely what the Chinese classics writes about the celestial fox (tian hu {{lang|zh|天狐}}) which a 1,000 year old fox turns into.{{Refn|{{harvnb|Smyers|1999|p=129}} collates from her cited source, Mayers, William Frederick (1924) {{URL|1=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015058523815&seq=95 |2=The Chinese Reader's manual}} , p. 65, cites two sources, Yuan zhong ji ({{lang|zh|元中記}}, 1834) (originally called Xuan zhong ji {{lang|zh|玄中記}} attributed to Guo Pu. Under either title, the relevant quote reads: "{{lang|zh|狐五十歲能變化為婦人;百歲為美女、為神巫,或為丈夫,與女人交接,能知千里外事,善蠱惑,使人迷惑失智;千歲即與天通為天狐}}" stating the fox at 50 learns to transform, at 100 becomes a beautiful woman,.. becomes aware of things 1000 li away ... ) and then (to quote Mayer) "when a 1,000 years old, is admitted to the Heavens and becomes the 'celestial fox'". The "celestial fox" is described as golden-haired, nine-tailed, and "versed in all secrets of nature" in the second source, Liu tie {{lang|zh|六帖}} or Bai Kong Liu tie: {{lang|zh|白孔六帖}}: "{{lang|zh|天狐言九尾金色役於日月宫可洞逹}}".}}

(Cf. also {{section link||Chinese parallels}})

File:Fushimi Inari mini torii.jpg shrine in Kyoto features numerous kitsune statues.]]

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 {{lang|ja-Latn|kitsune}} as messengers of Inari Okami.Hiroshi Moriyama. (2007) 「ごんぎつね」がいたころ――作品の背景となる農村空間と心象世界. pp.80–84. Rural Culture Association Japan.

Inari's kitsune are white, a color of a good omen.{{sfn|Hearn|1910|pp=223–224|postscript=; [1896], p. 317}} They possess the power to ward off evil, and they sometimes serve as guardian spirits. In addition to protecting Inari shrines, they are petitioned to intervene on behalf of the locals and particularly to aid against troublesome nogitsune, those spirit foxes who do not serve Inari. Black foxes and nine-tailed foxes are likewise considered good omens.

There can also be attendant or servant foxes associated with Inari, the Shinto deity of rice.{{sfn|Smyers|1999|p=76}} Originally, kitsune were Inari's messengers, but the line between the two is now blurred so that Inari Ōkami may be depicted as a fox. Likewise, entire shrines are dedicated to kitsune, where devotees can leave offerings.{{sfn|Hearn|1910|pp=223–224|postscript=; [1896], p. 317}}

According to beliefs derived from fūsui (feng shui), the fox's power over evil is such that a mere statue of a fox can dispel the evil kimon, or energy, that flows from the northeast. Many Inari shrines, such as the famous Fushimi Inari shrine in Kyoto, feature such statues, sometimes large numbers of them.

File:Blacksmith Munechika, helped by a fox spirit, forging the blade Ko-Gitsune Maru, by Ogata Gekkō.jpg and its fox spirits help the blacksmith {{illm|Sanjō Munechika|ja|三条宗近}} forge the blade {{lang|ja-Latn|Kogitsune-maru}} ('Little Fox') at the end of the 10th century. The legend is the subject of the {{lang|ja-Latn|noh}} drama {{lang|ja-Latn|Sanjō Kokaji}}.]]

{{Empty section|date=March 2025}}

File:Shuryo-zusetsu(1892)-p141-kitsunetsuri-foxtrap.png

{{also|kitsune udon}}

The fact that Japanese soup noodles garnished with fried slice of tofu called aburage or abura-age are called kitsune udon and kitsune soba (in Eastern Japan) stems from the popular belief the Inari deity (and its fox minions) prefer to be offered the abura-age (or sushi-rice stuffed in aburage pouches, called inarizushi{{sfn|Smyers|1999|p=96}}).

However, the custom of offering abura-age must have arisen rather late (in the Edo Period).{{Refn|name=""tanaka-apud-mizusawa"|{{illm|Takako Tanaka (literary scholar)|ja|田中貴子 (国文学者)|lt=Tanaka, Takako}} 1993 Gehō to aihō no chūsei 外法と愛法の中世 apud Mizusawa;{{sfn|Mizusawa|2010|p=256}}also Tanaka 1997.}} In comparison, the notion that the fox's favorite food being {{nihongo|nezumi no abura-age|鼠の油揚げ|estra="oil-fried mice or rat"}} dates farther back, since it is attested in {{illm|Oyamada Tomokiyo|ja|小山田与清}}'s Matsunoya hikki (c. 1845), which also cites a Muromachi period work Sekyō shō (where there is a metaphor of "springing up like a fox at a yaki-nezumi [roasted rat]").{{Refn|name=""tanaka-apud-mizusawa"}}{{illm|Oyamada Tomokiyo|ja|小山田与清}} {{URL|1=https://books.google.com/books?id=9u1Q-kzVl-MC&pg=PP174 |2=Matsunoya hikki 『松屋筆記』}}卷九十六

Watchers of the kyōgen-play {{interlanguage link|Tsurigitsune|ja|釣狐|lt=Tsurigitsune|extra="Fox Trapping"}} know full well that part of the theatrics involves the fox character being driven crazy by the presence of its favorite food, the "oil-fried young mice",{{sfn|Odanaka|Iwai|2020|p=109}}{{efn|Also early versions of the bunraku play Shinoda zuma ("The Shinoda wife"). {{harvnb|Odanaka|Iwai|2020|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=k3jtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT109 109]}}: "in the early bunraku version (The Shinoda Wife) [...] she is attracted by the smell of a fried mouse [...] (the idea is also found in Tsuri-Gitsune)"}} While this freak food bait might be thought of as the stuff of popular belief,{{efn|As does Takako Tanaka.}} the oil-fried mouse was an effective bait for trapping foxes, and actually used into the modern era (see fig. right).

Some commentators have extrapolated (on websites, etc.{{sfn|Mizusawa|2010|p=256}}) that people used to offer deep-fried mice to Inari Jinja but was switched to vegetarian substitute, but this has already been rejected by scholar {{illm|Takako Tanaka (literary scholar)|ja|田中貴子 (国文学者)|lt=Takako Tanaka}} who offers an alternate origin, where in the esoteric rites of Dakini buddhism (associated with foxes, cf. {{section link||Buddhist context}}) dumpling coated with soy flour was offered, which was people colloquially called something like "oil [dump]ling",{{efn|Actually called {{nihongo|Ikkai sōjō no abura-ko|一階僧正の油子|extra="1st rank high priest's oil-ling"}} (ko means "child", here taken to be a diminutive suffix).}} which hints at this actually being an oil-fried dough treat as found in Chinese cuisine.{{Refn|name=""tanaka-apud-mizusawa"}}{{Refn|Keiko Ōmori 大森恵子(2003) also argued along the same vein, pointing out that in the liturgical text Inari Ichiryū Daiji 稲荷一流大事 the offerings to the Dakini are specified as: "sekihan (red rice), mochi, sake, ma-gashi and aburamono 供物之事赤飯・餅・一酒・真菓子・油物", where the last two apparently refer to non-fried and oil-fried versions of dough confection called futo magari 太摩我里.}}

File:A man confronted with an apparition of the Fox goddess.jpgten}} concepts from Buddhism. Print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi.]]

Smyers (1999) notes that the idea of the fox as seductress and the connection of the fox myths to Buddhism were introduced into Japanese folklore through similar Chinese stories, but she maintains that some fox stories contain elements unique to Japan.{{sfn|Smyers|1999|pp=127–128}}

Actually, foxes were certainly blamed as cause for illness, and the Buddhist liturgy called {{nihongo|rokujikyōhō|六字経法|extra=“Ritual of the Six-syllable Sutra}} were being performed to excorce it since those times{{sfn|Lomi|2014|p=1256}} (cf. kitsunetsuki).

Kitsune are connected to the Buddhist religion through the Dakiniten, goddesses conflated with Inari's female aspect. Dakiniten is depicted as a female boddhisattva wielding a sword and riding a flying white fox.{{sfn|Smyers|1999|pp=82–85}}

A number authors tried to classify and sub-classify the foxes in different ways, starting from the Heian Period, intensifying in the Edo Period.{{sfn|Nakamura|2003|pp=322–325}} A sample of it is given as anonymously undated opinions by Lafcadio Hearn.{{Refn|One unidentified source claims the four superior types are the {{nihongo|byakko, kokko, zenko, reiko|白狐、黒狐、善狐、霊狐|extra='white, black, good, spiritual foxes'}}.}}Hearn's Gimpses; translated by Teiichi Hirai. (1964) {{URL|1=https://books.google.com/books?id=wI6UNKSVLUoC&pg=PT242 |2=Nihon bekken ki}} 1, Gutenberg21; {{harvnb|Hearn|1910|pp=224–225ff}}; [1896], p. 317

The Inari Shinto liturgical text {{nihongo|Inari no hiden|意根利之秘伝}} (1780 colophon) lists five types of foxes to be revered, mainly the three: tenko (celestial), {{nihongo|kūko|空狐|extra='sky'}}, chiko (earth), plus byakko (white), and {{nihongo|kūko|吾紫霊|extra=probably related to the 'purple fox' of Chinese myth}}.{{sfn|Nakamura|2003|p=324}} {{illm|Minagawa Kien|ja|皆川淇園}}'s {{nihongo|Yūhisai sakki|有斐斎剳記}} ( 1781) appeared, which ranks the {{nihongo|yako|野狐|extra='wild foxes'}} as the most obtuse{{efn|{{langx|ja|鈍}}, i.e. stupidest.}}, followed by the newly created {{nihongo|kiko|気狐|extra='air fox'}}, kūko (sky), then tenko (celestial).{{sfn|Nakamura|2003|p=324}}{{Refn|The Chinese (kanbun) text of this work Yūhisai sakki is embedded in Zen'an zuihitsu (cf. below).{{sfn|Asakawa|1891|p=673}} but Zack Davisson credites Asakawa Zen'an directly.}} {{illm|Asakawa Zen'an|ja|朝川善庵}}'s essay Zen'an zuihitsu, Book 2 (1850) gives his own conclusion that there are {{nihongo|tenko, byakko, genko|天狐、白狐、玄狐|extra='sky/celestial/, white, black foxes'}}, graded by age, of which the celestial is the most ancient.

Hearn was of the opinion that these precise and intricate stratifications of fox kind according to learned opinion could not be reconciled with the more down-to-earth picture of the kitsune held by the common peasantry.{{harvnb|Hearn|1910|p=224}}: "One cannot possibly unravel the confusion of these beliefs, especially among the peasantry".

(Cf. also {{section link||Chinese parallels}})

Hearn's observation was that the Izumo Province during the time of his residence there did conform to the idea that kitsune divided into the good, which are Inari foxes, and the bad. The worst of the bad are called {{nihongo|ninko|人狐|extra=({{lit|man foxes}})}} (associated with spiritual possession), and there are other bad, called the {{nihongo|yako/nogitsune|野狐|extra=({{lit|field foxes}})}}.{{harvnb|Hearn|1910|p=224}}: "I have only been able after a residence of fourteen months in Izumo.. etc., [made] the following very loose summary".

However, Hearn also doubts that such a stark differentiation between the Inari fox and possession fox (good vs. evil) had always been made by the populace in bygone times, and opines this was something imposed upon by the literati.{{sfn|Hearn|1910|p=224}} A similar verdict is rendered by {{illm|Teiri Nakamura|ja|中村禎里}}, that "practitioners of religion and the intelligentsia were the ones who made commonplace the divide between the good fox vs bad fox".{{harvnb|Nakamura|2003|p=365}}:"{{lang|ja|善狐と悪狐の分離実体化を一般化したのは、宗教者と知識人}}" And it was in that milieu that {{nihongo|Miyagawa Masakazu|宮川政運}} in Book 3 of his essay work (1858) set apart {{nihongo|zenko|善狐|extra='good foxes'}} and yako ('wild foxes') as the bad.{{Refn|Titled {{nihongo|Miyagawa-no-ya manpitsu or Kyūsensha manpitsu|宮川舎漫筆}}.}} According to Miyagawa, the good fox breaks down further into five subtypes: gold, silver, white, black, and celestial.{{sfn|Mozume|1916|p=145}}{{sfn|Nakamura|2003|p=365}}{{sfn|Davisson|2024|p=30}}

One analysis is that the kitsune will avenge malice with malice, but generally does not repay goodwill with malice, and on the contrary, is loyal to its debt.

An example of revenge is found in a tale set in Kai Province from the 11th century Uji shūi monogatari, where the fox sets fire to a man's home.{{Refn|Uji shūi monogatari,Book 3. {{URL|1=https://books.google.com/books?id=2bVDAAAAIAAJ&pg=PP140 |2=狐、家に火つくる事}}.}}{{sfn|de Visser|1908a|p=38}}

An example tale of gratitude involving the dainagon (major counselor) Yasumichi occurs in the Kokon Chomonjū of the mid-13th century, , who was pestered by a family of foxes that took up lair at his mansion, and their bake or mischief escalated to a level of intolerance. But the nobleman halted his plan to eradicate them after a fox appeared in his dream to beg mercy. The foxes after that rarely made rowdy noises, except to cry out loud to announce some good fortune about to happen.{{Refn|Kokon Chomonjū, Book 17, {{nihongo|Henge|変化|extra='transformation'}}, no title, incipit: "{{lang|ja|大納言泰道の五條坊門高倉の亭..}}". Translated by Tyler as "Enough is Enough",{{sfn|Tyler|1987|pp=114–115}}}}

{{main|Kitsunetsuki#Ninko}}

A {{lang|ja-Latn|ninko}} ("man-fox") according to Lafcadio Hearn is a fox spirit, apparently smaller than the usual fox (no larger than a weasel) except its tail being like a normal full-sized fox's. It is invisible so cannot be detected until it takes possession of some human.{{sfn|Hearn|1910|p=224}} Actually the ninko is considered to be kept by the kitsune-mochi, i.e., families gossiped to own and control a fox that can possess, gaining success via that power.{{sfn|Hearn|1910|p=232}} As Inoue Enryō noted, the ninko held by kitsune-mochi is just a localized version in Izumo (of the lore of "Animal Spirit Families"{{sfn|Fairchild|1962|pp=37–38}}), which occurs as the lore of the inkgami or dohyō in neighboring Iwami Province.

Kitsune are often presented as tricksters, preferring to victimize laymen over monks according to one anthologist,{{sfn|Tyler|1987|p=xlix}} though this is certainly not the case with the fictionalized Hakuzōsu which in one version (Hyaku monogatari) kills the priest and assumes his place. In the theatrical comedy (kyōgen) version, the hunter realizes the hoax and makes the fox behave ridiculously using the beast's favorite bait of deep-fried mouse, and then captures the fox.{{efn|So there is no grisly aftermath here of the old fox going to the temple to kill the priest.}}

A favorite trick of the fox's trade is transformation into a beautiful woman to beguile men.{{sfn|Tyler|1987|p=xlix}}{{sfn|Nozaki|1961|p=26}} (cf. {{section link||Shape-shifters}}) The {{lang|ja-Latn|kitsune}} that initiates sexual contact may also manifest the ability to suck the life force or spirit from human beings, reminiscent of vampires or succubi.{{sfn|Nozaki|1961|pp=26, 221}}

Besides the ability to transform, the {{lang|ja-Latn|kitsune}} is credited with kitsune other supernatural abilities such as spiritual possession ({{illm|kitsunetsuki|ja|狐憑き|preserve=1}}), generating fox-fire{{sfn|Nozaki|1961|p=25}} (cf. kitsunebi and {{section link||Kitsunebi control}}).

Another favorite trick of the fox is to give human fake money.{{harvnb|Seki|1966|p=58}}, Type of Tale "108. Leaf Money". Paper currency turns into a leaf once inside the wallet in modern versions,Mayer, Fanny Hagin 1984 {{URL|1=https://books.google.com/books?id=EvmAAAAAMAAJ&q=%22paper+money%22|2=Ancient Tales in Modern Japan}}, p. 212 or gold coinage (koban) turns to leaf in older tales.{{sfn|Casal|1959|p=20}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Casal compares this to European tales where the devil's money turns from gold to excrement, and adds that "since Japan is not scatologically inclined" the motif involves a leaf and not excrement. Casal misspoke here. Seki's "Leaf Money" tale type concludes: "Money turns into leaves, or he finds horse - dung inside his purse".}}

The fox in fable is also famed for tricking humans into eating dumpling (dango) actually made of horse dung.{{harvnb|Seki|1966|p=57}}, Type of Tale "105. The Horse-dung Dumpling". This is alluded to in the novel Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige (1822) colloquially known as Yaji-Kita after the characters making the journey. In one scene, Yajirobē who "imagines that the fox has taken the shape of [Kitahachi]" refuses the mochi offered him on suspicion of it being inedible horse dung.{{sfn|Hearn|1910|p=242|postscript=; [1896], p. 336}} Foxes are also accused of tricking people into taking a bath in a night soil pot (human manure pit){{harvnb|Seki|1966|p=57}}, Type of Tale "104. Taking a Bath in a Nigh-soil Pot". or a "cesspool" as Hearn puts it politely.{{harvnb|Hearn|1910|p=242}}, note

Tales distinguish kitsune gifts from kitsune payments. If a kitsune offers a payment or reward that includes money or material wealth, part or all of the sum will consist of old paper, leaves, twigs, stones, or similar valueless items under a magical illusion.{{sfn|Nozaki|1961|p=195}} True kitsune gifts are usually intangibles, such as protection, knowledge, or long life.{{sfn|Smyers|1999|pp=103–105}}

A {{lang|ja-Latn|kitsune}} may take on human form, an ability learned when it reaches a certain age—usually 100 years, although some tales say 50.{{sfn|Hamel|1915|p=91}}

As a common prerequisite for the transformation, the fox must place a leaf (or reeds, weeds) or a skull over its head{{sfn|Nozaki|1961|pp=25–26}}Komatsu 1990, pp. 49, 53, 56 apud {{harvnb|Smyers|1999|p=126}} (cf. Kitsune zōshi picture scroll). The fox's use of skull to transform derives from China, as it is attested in Youyang zazu (9th century).{{sfn|Sakaita|1996|p=1309}} It may have to run a circle around a tree three times to transform.Mayer, Fanny Hagin 1984 {{URL|1=https://books.google.com/books?id=EvmAAAAAMAAJ&q=%22three+times+now%22|2=Ancient Tales in Modern Japan}}, p. 140 apud {{harvnb|Smyers|1999|p=126}} The imagery held by present-day Japanese is that the fox will place a leaf on its head and do a flip in the air to turn into someone or some thing. The use of leaf is hard to explain, but when one examines the corpus of mukashibanashi folktales, the fox frequently stand by water (to look at the reflection of itself) transforms by placing waterweeds on its head, the weed being a sort to ersatz wig.。

Common forms assumed by {{lang|ja-Latn|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,{{sfn|Smyers|1999|pp=127–128}} and a {{lang|ja-Latn|kitsune}} can duplicate the appearance of a specific person.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}} {{lang|ja-Latn|Kitsune}} are particularly renowned for impersonating beautiful women. Common belief in feudal Japan was that any woman encountered alone, especially at dusk or night, could be a {{lang|ja-Latn|kitsune}}.{{sfn|Tyler|1987|p=xlix}} {{lang|ja-Latn|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.{{sfn|Nozaki|1961|pp=95, 206}} Variants on the theme have the {{lang|ja-Latn|kitsune}} retain other foxy traits, such as a coating of fine hair, a fox-shaped shadow, or a reflection that shows its true form.{{sfn|Hearn|1910|p=225|postscript= ; [1896], p. 321}}

A medieval tale describes an old fox that transformed into an enormously tall sugi ("cedar") tree, but this raised the suspicion of a man who was searching for his horse; he and his minions shot the tree with arrows, and later a fox was found lying dead.{{Refn|Konjaku monogatari Book 27.37 「狐変大榅木被射殺語」.{{sfn|Sakaita|1996|p=1314}}}}{{Refn|"The Story of the Fox who Got Killed Assuming the Form of a Cedar Tree".{{sfn|Nozaki|1961|pp=36–37}}}}

In some stories, {{lang|ja-Latn|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.{{harvnb|Ashkenazy|2003|page=148}} A particularly devout individual may even be able to see through a fox's disguise merely by perceiving them.{{cite book |first=Steven |last=Heine |title=Shifting Shape, Shaping Text: Philosophy and Folklore in the Fox Koan |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |date=1999 |isbn=978-0-8248-2150-0 |page=153 }} {{lang|ja-Latn|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.

{{main|Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura}}

In the fictional kabuki and puppet play material Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura, the premises is that a 1,000 year old mother and father foxes are hunted for their skin to span the special set of tsuzumi drum, known as the Hatsune ("first sound"). The fox kit assumes the shape of Yoshitsune's retainer Tadanobu in order to be with the drum made from its parents, or possibly to take possession of it.{{sfn|Smyers |1999|p=99}}{{sfn|Casal|1959|p=17}}

File:Chouju 1st scroll-02-rabbit&fox&target.jpg (1150s)}}}}]]

{{Main|Kitsunebi}}

The kitsune was purportedly capable of firing off the kitsunebi ("fox fire") flame from their tail by stroking it, as portrayed in the Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga (fig. right),{{sfn|Nozaki|1961|pp=25, 202}} or by striking the tail against the ground.{{sfn|Foster|2024|pp=230–231}}{{sfn|Casal|1959|p=10}} Or it might have been the kitsune{{'}}s fiery breath, according to regional tradition.{{sfn|Foster|2024|p=231}}{{sfn|Casal|1959|p=10}}

The kitsune were also said to employ their kitsunebi to lead travelers astray in the manner of a will-o'-the-wisp.{{sfn|Addiss|1985|p=137}}

{{Main|Kitsunetsuki}}

{{nihongo|Kitsunetsuki|狐憑き, 狐付き}}, also written {{lang|ja-Latn|kitsune-tsuki}}, literally means 'the state of being possessed by a fox'.{{sfn|Nozaki|1961|p=59}} Stories of fox possession (kitsunetsuki) is widespread throughout Japan.

Stories of kitsunetsuki s has already been attested during the Heian period,{{sfn|Nozaki|1961|p=211}} and the setsuwa narrative blaming illness on a fox spirit in Nihon ryōiki can be taken as an early attestation of kitsunetsuki.{{sfn|Maruyama|1992|p=48}}

From a clinical standpoint, those possessed by a fox are thought to suffer from a mental illness or similar condition. Such illness explanations were already being published by the 19th century, but the superstition was difficult to eradicate (cf. {{section link||Edo period criticism}}).

The patient struck ill by the kitsunetsuki syndrome is evidently unable to speak on the kitsune spirit's mind, so that a (hired) miko exorcist temporarily takes over the possession and explains what the fox wants, as in the case of the narrative in the 11th century Uji shūi monogatari, where the fox discloses it merely craved human food.{{Refn|Uji shūi monogatari, Book. 4. {{URL|1=https://books.google.com/books?id=2bVDAAAAIAAJ&pg=PP142 |2=狐、人に憑きてしとぎ食ふ事}}.}}{{sfn|de Visser|1908a|p=39}}

The idea of fox possession arguably became more widespread in the fifteenth century.{{sfn|Smits|1996|p=84}} Various learned men argued fox possession as superstition or an illness during the Edo period to no avail, the superstition persisted.{{sfn|Nakamura|1997|pp=327, 365}} Lafcadio Hearn picked up on the kitsunetsuki lore during the Meiji Era current near his adoptive home province of Izumo,{{harvnb|Hearn|1910|pp=224227, 231}} et seqq. even while Medical science continued to tried to debunk the myth,{{sfn|Foster|2024|p=230}} and the belief in fox and other animal spirit owning families regionally persisted even in the studies conducted c. 1960.{{harvnb|Fairchild|1962|p=34}} and note 21, citing Ishizuka, T. (1959). "Tsukimono" MiInzokugaku taikei 8: 28ff

There are families that tell of protective fox spirits, and in certain regions, possession by a {{lang|ja-Latn|kuda-gitsune}}, {{lang|ja-Latn|osaki}}, {{lang|ja-Latn|yako}}, and hito-gitsune are also called {{lang|ja-Latn|kitsunetsuki}}. These families are said to have been able to use their fox to gain fortune, but marriage into such a family was considered forbidden as it would enlarge the family. They were also said to be able to bring about illness and curse the possessions, crops, and livestock of enemies. This caused them to be considered taboo by the other families, which led to societal problems.

The great amount of faith given to foxes can be seen in how, as a result of the Inari belief where foxes were believed to be Inari no Kami or its servant, they were employed in practices of {{lang|ja-Latn|dakini-ten}} by {{lang|ja-Latn|mikkyō}} and {{lang|ja-Latn|shugendō}} practitioners and in the oracles of {{lang|ja-Latn|miko}}; the customs related to {{lang|ja-Latn|kitsunetsuki}} can be seen as having developed in such a religious background.

Kitsune are commonly portrayed as lovers, usually in stories involving a young human male and a kitsune who takes the form of a human woman.{{sfn|Hamel|1915|p=90}} The kitsune may be a seductress, but these stories are more often romantic in nature. Typically, the young man unknowingly marries the fox, who proves a devoted wife. The man eventually discovers the fox's true nature, and the fox-wife is forced to leave him. In some cases, the husband wakes as if from a dream, filthy, disoriented, and far from home. He must then return to confront his abandoned family in shame.

The earliest "fox wife" ({{nihongo|kitsune nyōbo|狐女房}}{{sfn|Bathgate|2004|p=34}}) tale type, concerning a wife whose identity as fox is revealed after being frightened by the house pet dog,{{Refn|Cf. Nakamura's translation of the narrative.{{sfn|Nakamura|1997|pp=103–104}} and }} occurs in Nihon Ryōiki, an anthology of Buddhist tales compiled around 822.{{sfn|Goff|1997|p=67}}{{harvnb|Bathgate|2004|p=34}}: "prototype of a recurring motif.. the theme of the 'fox wife' kitsune nyōbo 狐女房". The plotline involves a man who takes a wife, whose identity is later revealed to be a fox pretending to be a woman.

In this story,{{Refn|Japanese texts: {{harvnb|Nakata tr.|1975}}, translation, and also {{harvnb|Nakata tr.|1978}}, Old Japanese, pp. 42–43 vs. modern Japanese translation, pp. 43–45.}} a man from {{interlanguage link|Ōno no kōri|ja|大野郡 (美濃国)}}, Mino Province{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Ōno no kōri means roughly "Ōno County", and now corresponds to the village of Ōno,{{sfn|Nagata|1980|p=78}} now the town of Ōno, in Ibi District, Gifu,{{sfn|Nagata|1980|p=78}} or rather, the eastern portion of Ibi District.{{sfn|Nakamura|1997|loc=p. 104, n3}}}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"

| The archaic place-name is read {{nihongo|Ōno-no-kōri|大野郡}} in medieval geography. Although translated as "Ōno district",{{sfn|Nakamura|1997|pp=104–105}}{{sfn|Watson|2013|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=NSI2AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA15 14–15] }} it probably should be clarified that the modern day Ōno District, Gifu (Ōno-gun) lies in the north central part of the prefecture, whereas the actual setting of the tale occurs in Ibi District,{{sfn|Nagata|1980|p=78}}{{sfn|Nakamura|1997|loc=p. 104, n3}} at the southwest end of the prefecture, a completely different location. Hamel's book mistook "Ono (Ōno)" to be the man's name (surname).{{sfn|Hamel|1915|p=89}}}} found and married a fox-wife, who bore a child by him. But the household dog born the same time as the baby always harassed the wife, until one day frightened her so much she transformed back into a {{nihongo|yakan|野干}}, construed to mean "wild fox".{{sfn|Bathgate|2004|p=34}}{{efn|The term {{interlanguage link|Yakan (Buddhist scripture)|ja|野干|lt=yakan}} ({{lit|field-shield}}{{sfn|Casal|1959|p=3}}) comes from Buddhist scripture, and in the original context referred to a different animal, perhaps a jackal.{{sfn|de Visser|1908a|p=151}}{{sfn|Sanford|1991}} }}{{sfn|de Visser|1908a|p=20}} Although the husband and wife become separated (during the day), she fulfills the promises to come sleep with him every night,{{efn|{{harvnb|Hamel|1915|p=89}}: "So every evening she stole back and slept in his arms".}} hence the Japanese name of the creature, meaning "come and sleep" or "come always", according to the folk etymology presented in the tale.{{sfn|de Visser|1908a|p=20}}{{sfn|Smyers|1999|p=72}}{{sfn|Nakamura|1997|pp=104–105}}{{sfn|Watson|2013|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=NSI2AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA15 14–15] }}

Alternate versions of the fox-wife tale appeared later during the Kamakura-period in the works Mizukagami and Fusō Ryakuki of the 12th century.{{sfn|de Visser|1908a|p=20}}

The fox-wife's descendants were also depicted as doing evil things by taking advantage of their power.Yoshihiko Sasama. (1998) Kaii ・ kitsune hyaku monogatari 怪異・きつね百物語. pp. 1, 7, 12. Yuzankaku. {{ISBN|978-4639015444}} According to the foregoing story, the fox-wife's child became the first ancestor of the surname {{nihongo|Kitsune-no-atae|狐直}}.{{sfn|Nakamura|1997|pp=104–105}}{{sfn|Watson|2013|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=NSI2AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA15 14–15] }} However, in another tale from the Nihon Ryōiki, a story was told about a ruffian female descendant;{{harvnb|Watson|2013}}, "[https://books.google.com/books?id=NSI2AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA70 On a Contest between Two Women of Extraordinary Strength (2:4)]", pp. 70–71{{sfn|Bathgate|2004|p=44}} the tale was also placed in the repertoire of the later work Konjaku monogatari.{{sfn|Bathgate|2004|p=44}}{{sfn|de Visser|1908a|p=21}} Here, the woman nicknamed "Mino kitsune" (Mino fox), was tall and powerful and engaged in open banditry seizing goods from merchants.{{sfn|Bathgate|2004|p=44}}

File:Kuniyoshi Kuzunoha.jpg casts a fox's shadow even in human form. Kuzunoha is a popular figure in folklore and the subject of puppet and kabuki plays. Print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi.]]

A well-known example of the fox woman motif involves the astrologer-magician Abe no Seimei, to whom was attached a legend that he was born from a fox-woman (named Kuzunoha), and taken up in a number of works during the early modern period,

commonly referred to as "Shinoda no mori" ("Shinoda Forest") material (cf. below).

The historical Abe no Seimei later developed a fictional reputation of being the scion of fox-kind, and his extraordinary powers became associated with that mixed bloodline.{{harvnb|Ashkenazy|2003|page=150}} Seimei was purported to have been born a hybrid between the (non-historical) Abe no Yasuna,{{Refn|{{sfn|Foster|2015|loc=p. 294, n10}}}} and a white fox rescued by him that gratefully assumed the shape of the widower's sister-in-law, Kuzunoha{{efn|"Kuzunoha" means "leaf of kuzu or vine".{{sfn|Odanaka|Iwai|2020|loc=Ch. 3}}}} to become his wife, a piece of fantasy with the earliest known example being the Abe no Seimei monogatari printed 1662, and later adapted into

puppet plays (and kabuki) bearing such titles as Shinodazuma ("The Shinoda Wife", 1678) and {{interlanguage link|Ashiya Dōman ōuchi kagami|ja|芦屋道満大内鑑|lt=Ashiya Dōman ōuchi kagami}} ("A Courtly Mirror of Ashiya Dōman", 1734).{{sfn|Foster|2015|p=180}}{{sfn|Leiter|2014}}{{sfn|Odanaka|Iwai|2020|loc=Ch. 3}}

Another medieval "fox wife" tale is found in the {{lang|ja-Latn|Konjaku monogatarishū}} (c. 11–12th century), Book 16, tale number 17, concerning the marriage of a man named Kaya Yoshifuji,{{efn|{{langx|ja|賀陽良藤}}.}} but the same narrative about this man and the fox had already been written down by Miyoshi Kiyotsura (d. 919) in Zenka hiki{{efn|{{langx|ja|善家秘記}}.}} and quoted in the Fusō ryakki entry for the 9th month of Kanpyō 8 (Oct./Nov. 896),{{sfn|Iguro|2005|p=5}}{{sfn|de Visser|1908a|pp=22–23}} so it is in fact quite old.{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|The Kaya Yoshifuji was later also included in the Buddhist historical text Genkō Shakusho (14th century), Book 29 supplement "Shūi shi 拾異志".}}

{{External media|width=240px|image1=https://archive.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kosho/he12/he12_01586/he12_01586_p0011.jpg
Foxes revealing transformation techniques: skull or hair clump on head, used paper, etc. {{right|{{small|―Kitsune no sōshi. 1849 copy by Ichihara Entan (given name Morizumi) of the original by Tosa Mitsunobu. Waseda University Collection.]}}}}}}

Later the medieval novella Kitsune zōshi (or Kitsune no sōshi) appeared, which may be included in the Otogi-zōshi genre{{sfn|Bathgate|2004|loc=pp. 65–66 and n33}} under the broader definition,{{sfn|Kaneko|1975|p=77}} and the Kobata-gitsune include in the 23 titles of the Otogi-zōshi "library" proper.{{sfn|Kaneko|1975|p=77}} It has also been noted that the context in Kitsune zōshi, which is no longer a fox-wife tale strictly speaking, since the man is a Buddhist monk, and though he and the bewitching fox-woman spend a night of sensuality together, he is not taking on a spouse, and he merely suffers humiliation.{{sfn|Bathgate|2004|loc=pp. 65–66 and n33}}

One scene in Kitsune zōshi reveals the foxes caught in the act of performing transformation by placing as skull or human hair on its head (cf. image right).

{{main|Tamamo-no-mae}}

{{anchors|kayofuji-by-hokusai}}File:Sankoyokoden-Kayo-fujin-SumidaHokusaiMus.jpg (1807)} Sangoku yōkoden}}}}]]

File:Prince Hanzoku terrorised by a nine- tailed fox.jpg ({{lang|ja-Latn|kyūbi no kitsune}}) scaring King Hanzoku (Kalmashapada of India); print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Edo period, 19th century{{sfn|Nozaki|1961|pp=200, 204–206}}]]

The story about the Lady Tamamo-no-Mae developed in the 14th century, claiming that the vixen captivated the Emperor Konoe (reigned 1141–1155).{{sfn|Smits|1996|p=80}} This was a truly ancient nine-tailed fox, since two thousand years before that, she had been queen-consort Daji to King Zhou of Yin/Shang (Japanese: {{nihongo|In no Chū-ō|殷の紂王|}}), bringing about the downfall of the dynasty.{{sfn|Smits|1996|p=83}}{{sfn|Goff|1997|pp=67–68}} allowing the Western Zhou dynasty to come into being, only to cause its fall too by assuming the persona of the concubine Bao Si and seducing its last emperor.{{sfn|Bathgate|2004|p=3}}{{sfn|de Visser|1908a|p=8}}

After fleeing from Shang dynasty China, she was {{nihongo|花陽婦人|Kayō fujin}} consort named serving King Hanzoku (Kalmashapada of India (cf. figure right below).{{sfn|Bathgate|2004|p=3}}{{sfn|Davisson|2024|p=136}}

Stephen Turnbull, in Nagashino 1575, relates the tale of the Takeda clan's involvement with a fox-woman. The warlord Takeda Shingen, in 1544, defeated in battle a lesser local warlord named Suwa Yorishige and drove him to suicide after a "humiliating and spurious" peace conference, after which Shingen forced marriage on Suwa Yorishige's beautiful 14-year-old daughter Lady Koi—Shingen's own niece. Shingen, Turnbull writes, "was so obsessed with the girl that his superstitious followers became alarmed and believed her to be an incarnation of the white fox-spirit of the Suwa Shrine, who had bewitched him in order to gain revenge." When their son Takeda Katsuyori proved to be a disastrous leader and led the clan to their devastating defeat at the battle of Nagashino, Turnbull writes, "wise old heads nodded, remembering the unhappy circumstances of his birth and his magical mother".{{cite book|author-link=Stephen Turnbull (historian)|first=Stephen|last=Turnbull|title=Nagashino 1575|publisher=Osprey|date=2000 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X9JxAAAAMAAJ&q=fox |page=12 |isbn=978-1-84176-250-0}}

Edo Period scholar Hayashi Razan's {{interlanguage link|Honchō jinja kō|ja|本朝神社考|lt=Honchō jinja kō}}("Study of the Shrines of our Country", 1645) records the lore concerning a man from the Tarui clan,{{sfn|Nagata|1980|p=77}} who wedded a fox and begot the historical {{interlanguage link|Tarui Gen'emon|ja|垂井源右衛門}}.

A number of stories of this type tell of fox-wives bearing children. When such progeny are human, they possess special physical or supernatural qualities that often pass to their own children.

As aforementioned, the fox wife in the Nihon ryōiki tale gave rise to the ancestral line of the Kitsune-no-atae clan,{{sfn|Nakamura|1997|pp=104–105}}{{sfn|Watson|2013|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=NSI2AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA15 14–15] }} and a woman of great strength named "Mino kitsune" belonged to that heritage.{{sfn|Bathgate|2004|p=44}}

File:Inro with Fox's Wedding (reverse side).jpg depicting the kitsune no yomeiri. The reverse side depicting the bride in a litter.]]

Other stories tell of kitsune marrying one another. Rain falling from a clear sky—a sunshower—is called kitsune no yomeiri or the kitsune's wedding, in reference to a folktale describing a wedding ceremony between the creatures being held during such conditions.{{sfn|Addiss|1985|p=132}} The event is considered a good omen, but the kitsune will seek revenge on any uninvited guests,{{cite journal|author=Vaux, Bert|url=https://linguistlist.org/issues/9/9-1795/|title=Sunshower summary|journal=Linguist|volume=9|issue=1795|date=December 1998}} A compilation of terms for sun showers from various cultures and languages. as is depicted in the 1990 Akira Kurosawa film Dreams.{{Cite journal|title=The Fox's Wedding|first=Robert|last=Blust|journal=Anthropos|volume=94|issue=4/6|date=1999|pages=487–499|jstor=40465016}}

File:Hiroshige%2C_New_Year%27s_Eve_foxfires_at_the_changing_tree%2C_Oji%2C_1857.jpg on New Year's Night under the Enoki Tree near Ōji" in the One Hundred Famous Views of Edo by Hiroshige. Each fox has a {{lang|ja-Latn|kitsunebi}} floating close to its face.]]

There is the notion that the kitsune is in possession of a supernatural luminous jewel or tama lodged in their tail (or possibly kept externally), while in the Chinese version the mythical fox has a special jewel or pearl embedded inside its heart.{{sfn|Hamel|1915|pp=91–92}}{{sfn|Smyers|1999|p=126}} The jewel on the tail tip is also depicted in Buddhist temple art.{{efn|Where the fox is the mount on which the goddess Dakini rides.}}{{sfn|Nozaki|1961|pp=169–170}}

A fox's jewel is described as a round white object the size of a small mandarin orange{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Probably considerably smaller than mandarin orange. The text reads {{nihongo|shōkōji|小柑子}} prefixed "small". The "big" or ōkōji is today's koji orange (thin-skinned mikan), while the "small" shōkōji is today's tachibana orange or evern kumquat according to one explanation.}} in a tale from the Konjaku monogatarishū compilation (12th century). The miko (female "exorcist") acting as spiritual medium for the fox is playing with it,{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|The exorcist bit is lost in translation, and replaced by the patient possessed by the fox in, e.g., Nozaki's text.}} and a samurai snatches it away.{{harvnb|Nozaki|1961|pp=33–35}}: "The Story of a Fox Repaying Kindness For Returning Its Treasured Ball"{{harvnb|Tyler|1987|pp=299–300}}: "The Fox's Ball"{{sfn|Bathgate|2004|p=78}}{{sfn|Smyers|1999|pp=126–127}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|This fox in this tale obfuscates on what the function of the jewel might be. The focus is on the fox's gratefulness, the moral being: humans ought to act as honorably as such mere critters{{sfn|Bathgate|2004|p=42}}). The kitsune(inhabiting the exorcist) begs for its return, and promises to become the samurai's guardian spirit. The fox later honors the pact by leading the man out of harm's way past a band of armed robbers.{{sfn|Bathgate|2004|p=78}}}}

It is held that the fox jewel is necessary for the fox to change shape, or use its magical power.{{sfn|Smyers|1999|p=126}} Another tradition is that the pearl represents the kitsune's soul; the kitsune will die if separated from it for too long.{{cn|date=September 2023}}

An anecdote is recorded in the 18th century, which purports that an actual fox jewel was stolen from the creatures by several temple samurai, causing the temple's high priest ({{illm|sōjō|ja|僧正|lt=sōjō}}, "bishop") distress, prompting its return to the foxes. The stone flashed kitsunebi fire according to the account.{{efn|This occurrence purportedly took place at {{nihongo|Chikurin-in|竹林院}} in Ōmi Province. It was communicated to author Kiuchi by his brother named {{nihongo|Yoshitake|義武}} who served as samurai at that temple.}}{{Refn|{{illm|Kiuchi Sekitei|ja|木内石亭}} (1779), Second Part of {{nihongo|Unkonshi|雲根志}}}, Book 1, p. 26.{{sfn|Mozume|1916|p=207}}}}{{Refn|"The Fox Fire Returned by a Bishop".{{sfn|Nozaki|1961|p=183}}}}

The fox jewel was frequently discussed under the name of {{nihongo|宝珠の玉|hōju no tama|extra='treasure-gem jewel', "cintamani"}} in the post-medieval period, and stories about {{nihongo|hōshi no tama|ホーシの玉}} is common in the popular telling (recorded oral literature), which often speaks of such stone or tufty object being found or acquired and given over to the custody of a temple, etc., to be enshrined.{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|The meaning of hōshi written phonetically in kana is ambiguous. It has been redacted as {{nihongo|hōshi no tama|法師の玉|extra='priest jewel'}} on Oki Islands, or {{nihongo|hoshi no tama|星の玉|extra='star jewel'}} in Miyagi Prefecture.}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nichibun.ac.jp/cgi-bin/YoukaiDB3/simsearch.cgi?ID=1100076 |title=Shirogitsune no hōju no tama |script-title=ja:シロギツネノホウジュノタマ |author=Nichibunken |author-link=International Research Center for Japanese Studies |website=Yōkai database 怪異・妖怪伝承データベース|date=2002 |access-date=2025-03-12}} The top data is from Fukushima 1991, followed by Byakko no hōshi no tama, Fukushima 1996, etc., followed by many different name headings.

(Cf. {{section link||Iconography}}).

In traditional art, the white fox or byakko has been a favorite theme into the Meiji era.{{sfn|Hearn|1910|loc=p. 221 and note}}

And the phosphorescent fox is not only depicted with the kitsune-bi fire floating above their heads, but with a luminous jewel (tama) at its tail tip, which Lafcadio Hearn surmises is the same {{illm|Cintamani|ja|宝珠|lt=tama|preserve=1}} from Buddhism (cf. Mani Jewel and {{section link||Fox jewel}}).{{sfn|Hearn|1910|loc=p. 221 and note}}

Fox Jewels are a common symbol of Inari and representations of sacred Inari foxes without them are rare.{{sfn|Smyers|1999|pp=112–114}}

In the Buddhist context, the fox is standardly depicted as the creature on which the goddess Dakini rides. The luminous jewel is depicted on the fox's tail.{{sfn|Nozaki|1961|pp=169–170}}

Folktales from China tell of fox spirits called {{lang|zh-Latn|húli jīng}} ({{zh|c=狐狸精}}) also known as nine-tailed fox ({{zh|c=九尾狐}}) that may have up to nine tails. These fox spirits were adopted into Japanese culture through merchants as {{nihongo|{{lang|ja-Latn|kyūbi no kitsune}}|九尾の狐||({{lit|nine-tailed fox}})}}.{{cite book|last1=Wallen|first1=Martin|title=Fox|date=2006|publisher=Reaktion Books|location=London|isbn=9781861892973|pages=69–70}}

The earliest "fox wife" ({{nihongo|kitsune nyōbo|狐女房}}{{sfn|Bathgate|2004|p=34}}) tale type in Japan in Nihon Ryōiki (Cf. {{section link||Wives and lovers}}) bears close resemblance to{{sfn|Nakata tr.|1978|p=46}} the Tang dynasty Chinese story Renshi zhuan ("The Story of Lady Ren", c. 800),{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Renshi zhuan ({{lang|zh|任氏傳}}, Japanese: {{transliteration|ja|Ninshiden}}. This story of "Miss Ren" belongs in the chuanqi genre,{{sfn|Goff|1997|p=67}} and according to Nakata, it emphasizes human emotions like the Japanese Nihon Ryōiki tale, in contrast to the fox wife tale in Soushen ji ({{lang|zh|搜神記;}}; "In Search of the Supernatural"), which is classed in the earlier Zhiguai genre.}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|The Chinese wife or concubine (Lady Ren or Lady Jen) also exposes her fox identity after being barked at by a dog,{{sfn|Goff|1997|p=68}}}} and the possibility has been suggested that this is a remake of the Chinese version.{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|The legend of Miss Ren known in Japan to Ōe no Masafusa (11–12th cent.) who mentioned two classical Chinese instances in his Kobiki (cf. infra){{sfn|Goff|1997|pp=67–68}}{{sfn|Iguro|2005|p=3}}}}{{Refn|Takeshi Nakano apud {{harvnb|Nagata|1980|p=84}}}} A composite fashioned from the confluence of Tang dynasty wonder tales (chuanqi genre, as exemplified by the Renshi zhuan) and earlier wonder tales (Zhiguai genre) has also been proposed.{{Refn|{{interlanguage link|Akinori Maruyama|ja|丸山顕徳}}{{sfn|Maruyama|1992|p=52}} apud {{harvnb|Iguro|2005|p=2}}}}

The trope of the fox as femme fatale in Japanese literature also originates from China. Ōe no Masafusa (d. 1111) in Kobiki or {{nihongo|Kobi no ki|狐眉記|extra=A record of fox spirits}}{{sfn|de Visser|1908a|p=32}}{{sfn|Goff|1997|pp=67–68}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Masafusa borrowed the term kobi (Chinese pronunciation: {{lang|zh-Latn|humei}}) makes reference to seductive fox spirits, though he altered the meaning somewhat.{{sfn|Smits|1996|p=80}} The original Chinese meaning refers specifically to foxes that transform into beautiful women.{{sfn|Smits|1996|pp=83–84}}}} The femme fatale vixen was the mult-millenarian Tamamo-no-mae who was queen-consort during the Yin/Shang dynasty of China according to the fantastic tale.{{sfn|Smits|1996|p=83}}{{sfn|Goff|1997|pp=67–68}}

Foxes and humans lived close together in ancient Japan; this companionship gave rise to legends about the creatures.

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.Kaneko, Hiromasa (1984) Kaizuka no jūkotsu no chishiki: hito to dōbutsu no kakawari　貝塚の獣骨の知識―人と動物とのかかわり. pp. 127–128. Tokyo bijutsu. {{ISBN|978-4808702298}}Seino, Takayuki (2009) Hakkutsu sareta Nihon retto 2009 発掘された日本列島2009. p. 27. Agency for Cultural Affairs. {{ISBN|978-4022505224}}

File:Schweigefuchs.jpg

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.{{sfn|Nozaki|1961|p=230}}{{sfn|Smyers|1999|p=98}}

The kitsune figures in animations, comic books and video games.{{Cite book|editor-last=Weinstock|editor-first=Jeffrey Andrew|last=Nakamura|first=Miri|title=The Ashgate Encyclopedia of Literary and Cinematic Monsters|date=2014|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-1-4724-0060-4|pages=358–360|chapter=Kitsune}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://metalhammer.teamrock.com/features/2015-07-21/the-future-is-now-it-s-metal-hammer-273|title=Metal Hammer UK issue 273|publisher = Metal Hammer|access-date=2015-08-14|date=2015-07-21}}

Western authors of fiction have also made use of the kitsune legends although not in extensive detail.{{cite book|author=Johnson, Kij |title=The Fox Woman|url=https://archive.org/details/foxwoman00kijj|url-access=registration |date=2001|publisher=Tom Doherty |isbn=978-0-312-87559-6}}{{cite book |author-link=Mercedes Lackey |last1=Lackey |first1=Mercedes |last2=Edghill |first2=Rosemary |title=Spirits White as Lightning|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ispqCirVSvQC&pg=PT91 |date=2001|publisher=Baen Books|isbn=978-0-671-31853-6|pages=91–}}{{cite book|last1=Highbridge|first1=Dianne|title=In the Empire of Dreams|date=1999|publisher=Soho Press|location=New York|isbn=978-1-56947-146-3|url=https://archive.org/details/inempireofdreams00high}}

{{Portal|Japan|Mythology|Animals}}

• Fox spirit, a general overview about this being in East Asian folklore
• {{lang|zh-Latn|Huli jing}} – a Chinese fox spirit
• {{lang|ko-Latn|Kumiho}} – a Korean fox spirit
• {{lang|vi|Hồ ly tinh}} – a Vietnamese fox spirit
• Foxes in popular culture, films and literature
• {{lang|ja-Latn|Hakuzōsu}}
• {{annotated link|Reynard the Fox}}
• The Sacred Book of the Werewolf
• The Sandman: The Dream Hunters
• {{lang|ja-Latn|Sessho-seki}}
• {{lang|ja-Latn|Tamamo-no-Mae}}
• Wild fox koan

{{notelist}}

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{{cite book|ref={{SfnRef|Aston|1924}}|translator-last=Aston |translator-first=W. G. |translator-link=William George Aston |title=Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 |location=London |publisher=Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner |date=1924 |orig-date=1896 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z48xN727Wh4C&pg=RA1-PA252 |at=2: 252}}

{{harvnb|Aston|1924}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Z48xN727Wh4C&pg=RA1-PA263 2: 252]

{{cite book|ref={{SfnRef|Ujitani|1996}}|translator-last=Ujitani |translator-first=Tsutomu |translator-link=:ja:宇治谷孟 |title=Nihon shoki: zenyaku gendaibun |script-title=ja:日本書紀: 全訳現代文 |volume=2 |location=Osaka |publisher=Sōgei shuppan |date=1986 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=81wfAQAAMAAJ&q=熊野大社 |page=196 |isbn=978-4-915479-14-4 |quote=出雲国造に命ぜられて神の宮(意宇郡〔おうのこおり〕の熊野大社)を修造させられた。その時狐が、意宇郡の役夫の採ってきた葛(宮造りの用材)を噛み切って逃げた |language=ja}}

{{cite book|last=Seki |first=Keigo |author-link=Keigo Seki |chapter=25. Hito to Kitsune: #270 Shiri nozoki - #287 Kitsune no bakekurabe |script-chapter=ja: 25. 人と狐: #270 尻のぞき - #287 狐の化け比べ |trans-chapter=25. Man and Fox: #270 Buttock peeking - #287 Fox's shapeshift contest |title=Nihon mukashibanashi shūsei II.iii (honkaku mukashibanashi) |script-title=ja:日本昔話集成. 第2部 第3 (本格昔話)|publisher=Kadokawa |year=1955 |chapter-url=http://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/9542002 |pages=1306–1372}}

{{cite book|editor1-last=Inada |editor1-first=Kōji |editor1-link=:ja:稲田浩二 |editor2-last=Ozawa |editor2-first=Toshio |editor2-link=:ja:小澤俊夫 |title=Nihon mukashibanashi tsūgan: Miyagi |script-title=ja:日本昔話通観: 宮城 |publisher=Dohosha|year=1982 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1D8iAAAAMAAJ |pages= |isbn=9784810406177|lang=ja}}

{{cite book|author=Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce |author-link=:ja:農商務省 (日本) |title=Shuryō zusetsu |script-title=ja:狩猟図説|location= |publisher=Tokyo hakubunkan |date=1892|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0DL_x3pwXtUC&pg=PA139 |pages=139–141}}

{{cite book|first= |author-link= |chapter=Kitsune no hōshi no tama |script-chapter=ja:狐の法師の玉 |title=Oki・Tōgo minwashū |script-title=ja:隠岐・島後民話集 |publisher=Shimane daigaku mukashi banashi kenkyūkai |year=1984 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0EkEAAAAMAAJ |page=88 |lang=ja}}

{{cite journal |last=Okimoto|first=Katsumi |author-link= |title=Zenkiga: Expressing the Spirit of Zen |journal=Chanoyu Quarterly |number=75 |date=1993 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=njpLAAAAYAAJ&q=fox |page=57}}

{{cite book|last=Ōmori |first=Keiko|author-link= |chapter=Kyōgen 'Tsurigitsune' no enshutsu to inari shinkō |script-chapter=ja:狂言「釣狐」の演出と稲荷信仰 |editor=Koki kinen ronshū kankō iinkai |others=Akira Fukuda as supervising editor |title=|script-title=ja:伝承文化の展望 : 日本の民俗・古典・芸能 |location= |publisher=Miyai shoten |date=2003 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f4RMAQAAIAAJ&q=油 |pages=52–53, 60 |isbn=9784838230983}}

{{cite book|last=Sakurai |first=Hide |author-link= |title=Shinkō to fūzoku |script-title=ja:信仰と風俗 |publisher=Yuzankaku |year=1929|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OXmgAAAAMAAJ&pg=PP109 |pages=109–110 |series=|lang=ja}}

{{cite book|last=Takahashi |first=Tōru |author-link=:ja:高橋亨 (国文学者) |title=Mongatari bungei no hyōgenshi |script-title=ja:物語文芸の表現史 |location= |publisher=Nagoya daigaku shuppankai |date=1987 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fi3UAAAAMAAJ&q=元亨釈書 |pages=288–299 |isbn=9784930689740}}

{{cite book|last=Tanaka |first=Takako |author-link=:ja:田中貴子 (国文学者) |title=Seiai no nihon chūsei |script-title=ja:性愛の日本中世 |location= |publisher=Yosen sha |date=1997 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1K01AQAAIAAJ |pages=2–3, 262–267 |isbn=9784930689740}}

{{cite journal|last=Yamada |first=Itsuko |author-link=|title=Seken banashi no bunrui: Yamanashi ken Fujishi no jirei wo chūshin ni |script-title=ja:世間話の分類―山梨県富士吉田市の事例を中心に― |script-journal=ja:東洋大学大学院紀要 |journal=Bulletin of the Graduate School, Toyo University |volume=21 |date=1985-02-28 |issn=1342-2790 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CEM3AAAAIAAJ |pages=}}

{{cite book|last=Yamauchi |first=Yasuko |author-link=|chapter=(Book Review) Inada Kōji・Ozawa Toshiwo hoka hen Nihon mukashibanashi tsūgan dai 19 kan Okayama |script-chapter=ja:(書評)稲田浩二・小沢俊夫他編『日本昔話通観第19巻岡山』|title=国文学年次別論文集: 国文学一般 |date=1980 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GMgbAAAAMAAJ|pages=466, 469}}

}}

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• {{cite journal|last=Itō |first=Ryōhei |author-link=:ja:伊藤龍平 |title=The Sites of Tales'Births and Deaths: "Disorienting Deity"-type Bewitching Fox Stories |journal=Kokugakuin Japan Studies |volume=4 |issue= |year=2023 |url=https://www2.kokugakuin.ac.jp/oardijcc/archives/pdf/KJS4-2Ito.pdf |pages=21–32|language=ja}}

• {{cite book|editor-last=Kaneko |editor-first=Junji |editor-link= |title=|script-title=ja:日本狐憑史資料集成 |volume=1 |publisher=Makino shuppansha |year=1975 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oBExAAAAMAAJ&q=狐 |pages= }}
• {{cite encyclopedia|last=Leiter |first=Samuel L. |author-link= |entry=Ashiya Dōman ōuchi kagami |title=Historical Dictionary of Japanese Traditional Theatre |edition=2 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |date=2014 |entry-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hCkvBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA38 |page=38|isbn=9781442239111}}

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• {{cite book|last=Maruyama |first=Akinori |author-link=:ja:丸山顕徳 |chapter=Dai-2 shō. Kitsune no Atai setsuwa (jō 2 kan) |script-chapter=ja:第二章狐の直説話（上2巻） |title=Nihon ryōiki setsuwa no kenkyū |script-title=ja:日本霊異記説話の研究 |location=Tokyo|publisher=Ōfūsha |date=1992 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CuMwAAAAMAAJ&q=狐 |pages=46–61|isbn=9784273026165|language=ja}}

• {{citation|ref={{SfnRef|Mozume|1916}}|author=Mozume Takami |author-link=:ja:物集高見 |title=Kitsune |script-title=ja:きつね |work=Kōbunko |script-work=ja:広文庫 |volume=6 |publisher=Kōbunko kankōkai |year=1926 |orig-year=1916 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g4REAQAAMAAJ&pg=PP170 |pages=130–201 |lang=ja}}

• {{Cite journal|last=Nagata |first=Noriko |author-link= |title=Kitsune nyōbō kō: Nihon ryōiki jō-kan dai-ni-en wo megutte |script-title=ja:狐女房考—日本霊異記上巻第二縁をめぐって— |journal=Kōnan kokubun |number=27 |date=1980 |url=https://www.konan-wu.ac.jp/~nichibun/kokubun/27/nagata1980.pdf |pages=77–91 |language=ja}}

• {{cite book|ref={{SfnRef|Nakata tr.|1978}}|author=Kyōkai |author-link=:ja:景戒 |translator-last=Nakata |translator-first=Norio |translator-link=:ja:中田祝夫 |chapter=Kitsune wo me to shite ko wo umashimeshi en dai-2 |script-chapter=ja:狐を妻（め）として子を生ましめし縁 第二 |title=Nihon ryōiki (zen yaku chū) |script-title=ja:日本霊異記（全訳注） |volume=1 |location= |publisher=Kodansha |date=1978 |pages=42–47}}

• {{cite book |editor-last=Nakamura |editor-first=Kyoko |translator=Kyoko Nakamura |chapter=Volume I, Tale 2. On Taking a Fox as a Wife and Bringing Forth a Child |title=Miraculous stories from the Japanese Buddhist tradition - the Nihon ryōiki of the monk Kyōkai |location=Cambridge, MA |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1997 |orig-year=1973 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EcjbAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA104 |pages=103–104 |isbn=9781136792601}}

• {{cite book|last=Nakamura |first=Teiri |author-link=:ja:中村禎里 |title=Kitsune no nhonshi kinsei |script-title=ja:狐の日本史近世 |series=Kitsune no nihonshi: kodai・chūseihen 狐の日本史: 古代・中世篇 2 |location= |publisher=日本エディタースクール出版部 |date=2003|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a91NAAAAMAAJ|pages= |isbn=9784888883351}}

• {{cite book |last=Nozaki |first=Kiyoshi |url=http://delathehooda.com/kitsune/kitsunepdf.zip |title=Kitsuné — Japan's Fox of Mystery, Romance, and Humor |place=Tokyo |publisher=The Hokuseidô Press |date=1961|url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305013057/http://delathehooda.com/kitsune/kitsunepdf.zip |archive-date=2016-03-05 }}
• {{cite book|last1=Odanaka |first1=Akihiro |author1-link=:ja:小田中章浩 |last2=Iwai |first2=Masami |author2-link= |chapter=Chapter 3. A Courtly Mirror of Ashiya Dōman: Echoes of a shadowy domain |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k3jtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT105 |title=Japanese Political Theatre in the 18th Century: Bunraku Puppet Plays in Social Context |publisher=Routledge |date=2020 |pages= |isbn=9780429620003 }}]

• {{cite journal|last=Sakaita |first=Hitomi |author-link=|title=|script-title=ja:日中狐文化の探索 |journal=Chukyo University Bulletin of the Faculty of Liberal Arts |script-journal=ja: 中京大学教養論叢 |volume=36 |number=4 |date=1996-04-26|url=https://chukyo-u.repo.nii.ac.jp/record/13197/files/KJ00004207295.pdf |pages=1330–1291}} ([https://chukyo-u.repo.nii.ac.jp/records/13197 repository])

• {{cite journal|last=Sanford |first=James H. |author-link= |title=The Abominable Tachikawa Skull Ritual |journal=Monumenta Nipponica |volume=46 |number=1 |date=Spring 1991 |publisher= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hQxDAAAAYAAJ&q=yakan |pages=1–20 |doi=10.2307/2385144 |jstor=2385144}}

• {{cite book|last=Seki |first=Keigo |author-link=Keigo Seki |title=Types of Japanese Folktales|location= |publisher=Society for Asian Folklore |year=1966|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YIHfAAAAMAAJ&q=fox |isbn=}}

• {{cite book|last=Smits|first=Ivo |author-link= |chapter=An early anthropologist? Ōe no Masafusa's A record of fox spirits |editor1-last=Kornicki |editor1-first=P. F. |editor1-link= |editor2-last=McMullen |editor2-first=I. J. |editor2-link= |title=Religion in Japan: Arrows to Heaven and Earth |location=|publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1996 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gsLDwvmnt_oC&pg=PA78 |pages=78–89 |isbn=9780521550284}}
• {{cite book|last=Smyers |first=Karen Ann |author-link=Karen Ann Smyers |title=The Fox and the Jewel: Shared and Private Meanings in Contemporary Japanese Inari Worship |location= |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |year=1999 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cavXAAAAMAAJ |isbn=978-0824821029|oclc = 231775156}}
• {{cite book |author-link =Royall Tyler |last=Tyler |first=Royall |date=1987 |title=Japanese Tales |url=https://archive.org/details/japanesetales0000tyle |url-access=registration |publisher=Pantheon Books |isbn=978-0-394-75656-1}}
• {{cite book|first=Yasutada |last=Watanabe |author-link= |title=Shinto Art: Ise and Izumo Shrines |publisher=Weatherhill/Heibonsha |date=1974 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3efpAAAAMAAJ&q=fox |isbn=9780834810181}}
• {{cite book |editor-last=Watson |editor-first=Burton |editor-link=Burton Watson |translator=Burton Watson |chapter=On Taking a Fox as a Wife and Producing a Child (1:2) |title=Record of Miraculous Events in Japan: The Nihon ryoiki |location=New York |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2013 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NSI2AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA15 |pages=14–15 |isbn=9780231535168}}

{{refend}}

{{Wiktionary|kitsune|狐|きつね}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Kitsune}}

{{Japanese folklore long}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Animals in Japanese mythology

Category:Anthropomorphic foxes

Category:Inari faith

Category:Mythological foxes

Category:Mythological tricksters

Category:Shapeshifters

Category:Therianthropes

Category:Shinto kami

Category:Yōkai