Kitsune | EPFL Graph Search

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In Japanese folklore, kitsune are foxes that possess paranormal abilities that increase as they get older and wiser. According to yōkai folklore, all foxes have the ability to shapeshift into human form. 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. Foxes and humans lived close together in ancient Japan; this companionship gave rise to legends about the creatures. Kitsune have become closely associated with Inari, a Shinto kami or spirit, and serve as its messengers. This role has reinforced the fox's supernatural significance. The more tails a kitsune has—they may have as many as nine—the older, wiser, and more powerful it is. Because of their potential power and influence, some people make sacrifices to them as to a deity. Conversely foxes were often seen as "witch animals", especially during the Edo period (1603–1867), and were thought of as goblins who could not be trusted (similar to some badgers and cats). 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. In Nihon Shoki, which was compiled in 720 and is one of the oldest history books in Japan, foxes appeared for the first time as supernatural beings that let people know good omens and bad omens. Various legends about foxes with human personalities were first described in Nihon Ryōiki which was compiled around 822. In this story, a man from Mino Province and a kitsune having a female personality get married and have a child, and the kitsune as the wife is described as a person who has a deep resentment against dogs. Also, their descendants are depicted as doing evil things by taking advantage of their power. 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.

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Related concepts (19)

Obake

and bakemono are a class of yōkai, preternatural creatures in Japanese folklore. Literally, the terms mean a thing that changes, referring to a state of transformation or shapeshifting. These words are often translated as "ghost", but primarily they refer to living things or supernatural beings who have taken on a temporary transformation, and these bakemono are distinct from the spirits of the dead. However, as a secondary usage, the term obake can be a synonym for yūrei, the ghost of a deceased human being.

Yōkai

"strange apparition" are a class of supernatural entities and spirits in Japanese folklore. The word yōkai is composed of two kanji characters which both mean "suspicious, doubtful" and while it may be regarded as a loanword from the Chinese term yaoguai, the word yōkai it has taken on multiple different meanings peculiar in Japanese context. Yōkai are also referred to as あやかし, 物の怪 or 魔物.

Kitsune