Kitsune is the Japanese word for fox. The word is sometimes translated as ‘fox spirit’, which is actually a broader folkloric category that is not fundamentally different from regular foxes. Kitsune have become closely associated with Inari, a Shinto kami or spirit.
About Kitsune in brief
Kitsune is the Japanese word for fox. Foxes are a common subject of Japanese folklore. Stories depict legendary foxes as intelligent beings and as possessing paranormal abilities that increase as they get older and wiser. Kitsune have become closely associated with Inari, a Shinto kami or spirit, and serve as its messengers. The more tails a kitsune has – they may have as many as nine – the older, wiser, and more powerful it is. There are two common classifications of kitsune: ninko and kitsune-ninko. The word is sometimes translated as ‘fox spirit’, which is actually a broader folkloric category that is not fundamentally different from regular foxes. The full etymology is unknown. The oldest known usage of the word is in text Shin’yaku Kegonkyō Ongi Shiki, dating to 794. In classical Japanese, kitsu-ne means ‘come and sleep’, and ki-tsune means ‘always comes’ The word kitsune is now archaic; in modern Japanese, a fox’s cry is transcribed as kon kon or gon gon. Some people make sacrifices to them as to a deity, but foxes were often seen as ‘witch animals’ during the superstitious Edo period, and thought of as goblins who could not be trusted. The idea of the fox as seductress and the connection of 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.
Local traditions add further classifications: Kitsune are invisible spirit that only human beings can perceive when it possesses them as many powers as it does. The most common classification is kitsune, which is a type of yōkai, or fox spirit that is only visible to humans when it has many tails, and can shapeshift into human form. Some stories portray kitsune as faithful guardians, friends, lovers, and wives. Many of the earliest surviving stories are recorded in the Konjaku Monogatarishū, an 11th-century Japanese collection of Japanese, Chinese, and Indian literary narratives. This appears to be tied to a specific story; it is one of the oldest surviving kitsune tales, and unlike most of those in which a fox takes the form of a human woman and marries men, this one does not end tragically. The folk etymology would have it that the fox returns each night as a woman but leaves each morning as a fox she is believed to have superior intelligence, and long life, and powers. For example, in one story a fox returns to her husband each night but each morning she is a woman, because she is still a Kitsune. In another, she returns to the moor each night and sleeps in his arms, but the next morning she leaves to become a fox. This one is tied to the story of Ono, an inhabitant of Mino, who spent the seasons longing for his ideal of female beauty.
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This page is based on the article Kitsune published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 08, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
