![]() Kappa – The Unique Inhabitants of Lakes and Rivers Takagi Toranosuke capturing a kappa under the water in the Tamura river in the province of Sagami, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, 1834, via British Museum ‘wild foxes’), shapeshifting foxes who love playing pranks on humans, or quite the opposite, reward them, depending on their deeds.ģ. The other type of kitsune recognized in Japanese mythology was Yako (or Nogitsune, lit. Kitsune were not always seen as divine, benevolent spirits. The most famous shrine built to celebrate the Inari deity is Fushimi Inari shrine, found near Kyoto, which attracts many visitors from around the globe throughout the year. Luckily, these temples are easily recognizable by their typical red buildings and red torii gates. ![]() You can find many statues depicting these elegant, supernatural youkai in shrines dedicated to Inari, spread all throughout Japan. ‘good foxes), describes a type of benevolent foxes with celestial powers, most well known as the divine messengers of the God Inari, protector of rice fields, prosperity, and fertility. Japanese mythology recognizes two types of kitsune. The most powerful kitsune were the nine-tailed foxes, said to have acquired infinite knowledge and the power to see everything that is, was, or will be. In Japanese folklore, kitsune can be a symbol of both good and evil and were thought to grow a new tail for every 100 years they lived on this earth. They are known to be magical, highly intelligent Japanese mythical creatures that possess many powerful magical and spiritual abilities, including shapeshifting, far-seeing, high intelligence, and longer lifespans. Kitsune, or mythical foxes, are yet another famous youkai in Japanese mythology. Kitsune – The Divine Mythical Creatures of Japanese Folklore Nine-tailed Fox, by Ogata Gekko, 1887, via British Museum Studio Ghibli’s (one of the most popular animation studios in Japan) movie, Pom Poko, revolves around the lives of these Japanese mythical creatures and paints them in a positive, humorous light.Ģ. Most often they are represented as carrying a sake bottle, symbolizing virtue, and having a big belly and big eyes, as well as a hat to protect them from bad luck and bad weather. You can find many Tanuki statues around temples in Japan. This has sparked another phenomenon in Japanese folklore, named Tanuki-Bayashi - people hearing drum or flute sounds coming out of nowhere in the middle of the night, possibly explained by the mischievous nature of these Japanese mythical creatures. The Japanese folktales definitely didn’t try to keep things child-friendly: most of the time, tanuki are depicted in art as using their overly grown testicles as a traveler’s pack, or sometimes even as drums. They can take any passing travelers by surprise and play pranks on them. They can shapeshift into other humans, other animals, inanimate household objects, or even parts of nature such as trees, rocks, and roots. Although previously thought in Japanese mythology to be guardians of the natural world, nowadays, Tanuki are better associated with their trickster nature.
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