Kitsune of Japanese Folklore

Kitsune appeared in Japanese folklore in roughly the 7th century. Unlike their Chinese counterparts, they grew wildly popular within the people and quickly grew to be a staple of their folklore, even making it into part of their religion. (1)

As a mystical entity, most Kitsune are envisioned as foxes. After 100 years, a Kitsune can gain a human form and are able to shapeshift between fox and human. A Kitsune is even able to take on the form of another human, though their preference is often for young or beautiful women or older men. Each Kitsune has an array of tails, arraying from one, five, seven and nine and rarely other numbers. The 9-tailed foxes are the most powerful and are often golden in colour. A Kitsune has a main tail, which is the source of all its power. A person would have to chop off all the tails to kill a Kitsune, since it is impossible to tell which one is the main tail.

There are two primary classifications of Kitsune. The zenko are believed to be associated with the God of Fertility, Inari. They are generally benevolent compared to their more malevolent counterparts, the yako, or Nogitsune. There are also variants, such as those who are only apparent through the possession of a person, or classifications based on their element.

Each Kitsune has an object which is extremely precious to them, because it allows others to control them. These Star balls contain their life force, and are often percieved as white-gold orbs. The Kitsune would protect their Star balls ferociously and reign hell down on anyone who took them. They also despise being trapped and forced into situations they do not want, often doing their best to get out of it, even if it involves killing. Aside from that, they will often trick people just for the fun of it, hiding their prized objects and fooling them. (2)

There are ways to tell if someone is possessed by a fox spirit. Often, they would have insomnia, cold and clammy hands and lack of appetite. The individual in question may also seem to be strangely friendly towards a particular fox, such as setting out food for it. There are believed to be whole families who may be possessed by foxes, who have to remain outside of society for fear of their mischievous companions (3). Possession by fox spirits may also have been an explanation for mental illness long before medical practices improved. Women are more often possessed than men, which are targets for their tricks instead. In some stories, there may be other telling signs of Kitsune. Most of them have trouble hiding their multiple tails when in a human form. They may also have other fox-like features upon their person, such as fine coatings of fur. There may even be other ways, such as through their shadow or by seeing their true form in a reflection. A possessed individual would have to be exorcised, which would either involve going to an Inari Shrine, attempting to do it yourself or, in extreme cases, getting it beat out of you. (4)

Bibliography:

(1) http://academia.issendai.com/fox-japanese.shtml

(2, 4) http://www.mythicalcreaturesguide.com/page/Kitsune?t=anon

(3) http://www.koryu.com/library/dlowry12.html