The Red fox is found in more places than any other wild canine living all over the Northern Hemisphere. From the Arctic Circle and all of Asia, to Central America and even the northern Africa. Kitsune in Japan are connected to the god Inari Ōkami, the god of rice, rice harvest, and prosperity for farmers. Inari’s messenger and friend is the fox, or foxes depending on the image. Thus there are fox statues at Shinto shrines dedicated to the god Inari. Besides fox statues the shrines are also known for the red Torri gates (traditional Japanese gates most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the profane to the sacred). The most famous one is Fushimi Inari (head shrine of Inari)
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The earliest historical records of Inari worship before the 10th or 11th century don’t mention anything about foxes. The simplest explanation seems to be that mice eat rice and foxes eat mice. So foxes could be seen as protectors of rice, but who knows. Worshippers at Inari shrines, commonly make offerings of Aburaage, which are thin slices of fried tofu with sweet soy sauce flavoring. It’s supposedly the favorite food of foxes, thus udon (a type of thick wheat flour noodle of Japanese cuisine often served hot as a noodle soup in its simplest form, as kake udon, in a mildly flavored broth called kakejiru, which is made of dashi, soy sauce, and mirin) with Aburaage topping is “Kitsune udon”. Aburagge pockets stuffed with sushi rise is Inarizushi. Though foxes are associated with a powerful deity, they’re …show more content…
Foxes might pose as a distressed traveler to gain entrance into someone’s home. If taken in, the homeowner awakens the next morning to find all of their stuff stolen. To top it all off, the kitsune might have shaved his head bald. Foxes often take the form of beautiful women. This isn’t always to harm or murder though. Some stories tell of a kitsune marrying a human man and raising a family with him. Kitsune are masters of illusion. They can create buildings, cities, and landscapes that don’t exist. Sometimes they combine shapeshifting and illusions for the ultimate prank, and by prank I mean severe emotional trauma. Kitsune disguise as women and lure men to luxurious mansions for a night of passion. The next morning a man wakes up in a graveyard surrounded by rotting corpses. Nice! Worse than deception is possession. A fox might possess you for killing its cub or disturbing its afternoon nap. Or it might just need your body for a specific purpose. Perhaps you’re the prime minister of Japan and a fox wants to pass an unfair trade agreement. When we behave badly we may say something like “the Devil made me do it”. In Japan the same excuse is used, just replace Devil with fox. If kitsune marry each other it can cause two odd occurrences to happen. The first is called “fox fire” or kitsurabe. In English we call it a will o’ wisp. It’s a ball of light that dances in the distance and recedes when approached.
The earliest historical records of Inari worship before the 10th or 11th century don’t mention anything about foxes. The simplest explanation seems to be that mice eat rice and foxes eat mice. So foxes could be seen as protectors of rice, but who knows. Worshippers at Inari shrines, commonly make offerings of Aburaage, which are thin slices of fried tofu with sweet soy sauce flavoring. It’s supposedly the favorite food of foxes, thus udon (a type of thick wheat flour noodle of Japanese cuisine often served hot as a noodle soup in its simplest form, as kake udon, in a mildly flavored broth called kakejiru, which is made of dashi, soy sauce, and mirin) with Aburaage topping is “Kitsune udon”. Aburagge pockets stuffed with sushi rise is Inarizushi. Though foxes are associated with a powerful deity, they’re …show more content…
Foxes might pose as a distressed traveler to gain entrance into someone’s home. If taken in, the homeowner awakens the next morning to find all of their stuff stolen. To top it all off, the kitsune might have shaved his head bald. Foxes often take the form of beautiful women. This isn’t always to harm or murder though. Some stories tell of a kitsune marrying a human man and raising a family with him. Kitsune are masters of illusion. They can create buildings, cities, and landscapes that don’t exist. Sometimes they combine shapeshifting and illusions for the ultimate prank, and by prank I mean severe emotional trauma. Kitsune disguise as women and lure men to luxurious mansions for a night of passion. The next morning a man wakes up in a graveyard surrounded by rotting corpses. Nice! Worse than deception is possession. A fox might possess you for killing its cub or disturbing its afternoon nap. Or it might just need your body for a specific purpose. Perhaps you’re the prime minister of Japan and a fox wants to pass an unfair trade agreement. When we behave badly we may say something like “the Devil made me do it”. In Japan the same excuse is used, just replace Devil with fox. If kitsune marry each other it can cause two odd occurrences to happen. The first is called “fox fire” or kitsurabe. In English we call it a will o’ wisp. It’s a ball of light that dances in the distance and recedes when approached.