Kitsune

In Japanese folklore, kitsune (狐, きつね, IPA: [kʲi̥t͡sɨne̞] ⓘ) are foxes that possess paranormal abilities that increase as they get older and wiser.

While some folktales speak of kitsune employing this ability to trick others, as foxes in folklore often do, other stories portray them as faithful guardians, friends, and lovers.

[b] And in 659, a fox bit off the end of a creeping vine plant held by the laborer (shrine construction worker),[d] interpreted as an inauspicious omen foreshadowing the death of Empress Saimei the following year.

The fox-wife narrative in Nihon ryōiki gives the folk etymology kitsu-ne as 'come and sleep',[37][38] while in a double-entendre, the phrase can also be parsed differently as ki-tsune to mean 'always comes'.

[49] Variants on the theme have the kitsune retain other foxy traits, such as a coating of fine hair, a fox-shaped shadow, or a reflection that shows its true form.

Other supernatural abilities commonly attributed to kitsune include possession, generating fire or lightning, willful manifestation in the dreams of others, flight, invisibility, and the creation of illusions so elaborate as to be almost indistinguishable from reality.

[46][50] Some tales speak of kitsune with even greater powers, able to bend time and space, drive people mad, or take fantastic shapes such as an incredibly tall tree or a second moon in the sky.

[53][54] Other kitsune have characteristics reminiscent of vampires or succubi, and feed on the life or spirit of human beings, generally through sexual contact.

[61] Folklorist Lafcadio Hearn describes the condition in Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan: Strange is the madness of those into whom demon foxes enter.

[62]He goes on to note that, once freed from the possession, the victim would never again be able to eat tofu, azukimeshi (i.e. sekihan or "red bean rice"), or other foods favored by foxes.

[63] If a priest was not available or if the exorcism failed, alleged victims of kitsunetsuki might be badly burned or beaten in hopes of driving out the fox spirits.

[69] There are families that tell of protective fox spirits, and in certain regions, possession by a kuda-gitsune,[56] osaki,[47][70] yako,[56] and hito-gitsune are also called kitsunetsuki.

Noh, kyogen, bunraku, and kabuki plays derived from folk tales feature them,[75][76] as do contemporary works such as native animations, comic books and video games.

[77] 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.

[85] Actually, the favorite food of the fox, used as bait for trapping or luring them, is purported to be the fried mouse or rat, according to the scenario in the kyōgen-play Tsurigitsune [ja][86][87] and other works.

Stories tell of kitsune playing tricks on overly proud samurai, greedy merchants, and boastful commoners, while the crueler ones abuse poor tradesmen and farmers or devout Buddhist monks.

[48] Other common goals of trickster kitsune include seduction, theft of food, humiliation of the prideful, or vengeance for a perceived slight.

[93] Oddly, samurai families were often reputed to share similar arrangements with kitsune, but these foxes were considered zenko and the use of their magic a sign of prestige.

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.

As aforementioned, the earliest example of the "fox wife" (kitsune nyōbo (狐女房)) motif occurs in the short story included in the Nihon ryōiki .

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 yakan (野干) construed to mean "wild fox".

[109][110] Another medieval "fox wife" tale is found in the Konjaku monogatarishū (c. 11–12th century), Book 16, tale number 17, concerning the marriage of a man named Kaya Yoshifuji,[p] but the same narrative about this man and the fox had already been written down by Miyoshi Kiyotsura (d. 919) in Zenka hiki[q] and quoted in the Fusō ryakki entry for the 9th month of Kanpyō 8 (Oct./Nov.

[25][115] 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.

[114] The story about the Lady Tamamo-no-Mae developed in the 14th century, claiming that the vixen captivated the Emperor Konoe (reigned 1141–1155)[31] 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.

[51] As aforementioned, the fox wife in the Nihon ryōiki tale gave rise to the ancestral line of the Kitsune-no-atae clan,[103][104] and a woman of great strength named "Mino kitsune" belonged to that heritage.

[109][110] 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.

[117] Seimei was purported to have been born a hybrid between the (non-historical) Abe no Yasuna,[119] and a white fox rescued by him that gratefully assumed the shape of the widower's sister-in-law, Kuzunoha[s] 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 Ashiya Dōman ōuchi kagami [ja] ("A Courtly Mirror of Ashiya Dōman", 1734).

[123] The event is considered a good omen, but the kitsune will seek revenge on any uninvited guests,[124] as is depicted in the 1990 Akira Kurosawa film Dreams.

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".