Overview
As I previously mentioned, one of the yokai I will be reinterpreting for my final major project is the Kitsune. The Kitsune is a magical shapeshifting creature, who is often associated with the Shinto god Inari who is the deity of rice. Below is a short explanation of the yokai:
Real Kitsune
Japan is home to two red fox subspecies: The Hokkaido fox and the Japanese red fox. Similar to cats in many ways, they are solo stealth hunters of prey much smaller than itself. Other similarities include claws that can retract, eyes that reflect light night and their behaviours.
Kitsune History
Kitsune ( 狐きつね) is the Japanese word for the fox. Japanese fox myths origniated from Chinese mythology. Chinses folk tales tell of fox spirits that would have up to tails. The fox is mentioned Many of the earliest surviving stories are recorded in the Konjaku Monogatarishū, an 11th-century collection of Chinese, Indian, and Japanese narratives. Within Japanese folklore, they’re believed to have extraordinary abilities. Stories portrayed them as intelligent creatures and have paranormal abilities that develop with their age and wisdom. According to Yōkai stories, all foxes can shapeshift into human form. While a few folktales talk about kitsune utilizing this ability to deceive others, different stories depict them as guardians, companions, sweethearts, and spouses.
Foxes and people lived with one another in old Japan; this is what caused the legends about the creatures to come to life. Kitsune have a connection with Inari, a Shinto kami and served as messengers. This role has reinforced the fox’s supernatural significance. The more tails a kitsune has—they may have upwards of nine—the more seasoned, more shrewd, and all the more incredible it is. Due to their potential power and impact, a few people make penances to them as to a divinity.
Then again, foxes were frequently seen as “witch creatures”, particularly in the superstitious Edo time frame (1603– 1867), and were goblins who couldn’t be trusted (like tanuki and cats).
Kitsune were commonly depicted as lovers, ordinarily in stories including a young human male and a kitsune who appears as a human lady. The kitsune might be a temptress, yet these accounts are all the more frequently sentimental in nature. Normally, the man unknowingly weds the fox, who demonstrates a gave spouse. The man in the end finds the fox’s actual nature, and the fox-spouse is compelled to abandon him. Sometimes, the spouse wakes as though from a fantasy, messy, confused, and a long way from home. He should then come back to stand up to his surrendered family in disgrace.
Numerous accounts recount fox-spouses bearing youngsters. At the point when such descendants are human, they have exceptional physical or heavenly characteristics that regularly go to their very own kids. The celestial prophet performer Abe no Seimei was presumed to have acquired such remarkable forces.
Different stories recount kitsune wedding each other. Rain tumbling from an unmistakable sky — a sunshower — is called kitsune no yomeiri or the kitsune’s wedding, in reference to a folktale depicting a wedding service between the animals being held amid such conditions. The occasion is viewed as a promising sign, however the kitsune will look for retribution on any uninvited visitors.
Animation Project 