Kitsune

Kitsune (狐) is Japanese for the Japanese Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes japonica). Along with dogs, it is a member of the Canidae family of mammals. Kitsune first originated in India, and migrated to China and then eventually to Japan where they exist in their current incarnation. In Japanese folklore, kitsune (along with tanuki and tengu) are a form of magical shape-shifting spirit, called mononoke as a group. They are known to be tricksters, teachers, and skilled with magic. Usually, any fox is believed to become a shapeshifter when it reaches a certain age (often a hundred years), and its powers keep growing with years (which is indicated by growing extra tails). Kitsune are often associated with the deity of rice known as Inari. Originally kitsune were the messengers of Inari but now the line between the two has become blurred. Kitsune are connected to both the shinto and Buddhist faiths. Kitsune spirits are reputed to be gifted with incredible powers, including possession, the ability to breathe fire, or to create fire by rubbing their tails together, to manifest in dreams, to create elaborate illusions, and even to bend time and space or drive people mad. There are many different types of kitsune, such as "ghost" kitsune, or "heavenly" kitsune, and the names given to them are often female, signifying that the kitsune as a race are feminine. Embedded in popular folklore as they are, kitsune have made appearances in many contemporary Japanese works. Renamon, from the third season of the Digimon cartoon was inspired by the kitsune, as was Sonic the Hedgehog's two-tailed sidekick Tails. Two Pokémon creatures, the Vulpix and the Ninetales, are undoubtedly derived from the mythical kitsune. Shippo from Inu Yasha is a kitsune as well, as is Ryutarou from Pom Poko. There is a Japanese dish called "kitsune udon", a type of udon soup so named because kitsune are said to have a particular fondness for the baked tofu (atsuage) it contains.

See also

\n*Fox spirit

External links

\n*The Kitsune Page\n*Foxtrot's Guide to Kitsune Lore\n