Fern Flower
Published on October 23, 2018

Kitsune

  • Chinese Fox
  • Kitsune
  • Kumiho
  • Huli-jing
  • Huli-ching
  • Silver Fox

Regions of expansion

Vietnam 1 Dem. Rep. Korea 1 Republic of Korea 1 China 1 Japan 1
Japan
People's Republic of China
South Korea
North Korea
Vietnam

Description

In the mythology of China, Japan, Vietnam Korea is a fox that can transform into a human. The ability to take the form of a person appears after reaching a certain age (usually a hundred years, although in some legends — fifty). Usually they take the form of a seductive young girl, but sometimes they turn into men.

In Japanese folklore, these animals have great knowledge, a long life and magical abilities. In folklore, a kitsune is a kind of yokai, that is, a demon. In this context, the word "kitsune" is often translated as "fox spirit". 

A kitsune can have up to nine tails. In general, it is believed that the older and stronger the fox, the more tails he has. Some sources even claim that kitsune grows an extra tail every hundred or thousand years of his life.

She can play tricks on people, attack them because of some transgressions (for example, killing a fox), or she can settle in the house and help with the housework. Other possibilities include the ability to inhabit other people's bodies, appear in other people's dreams, create illusions so complex that they are almost indistinguishable from reality, bend space and time, drive people crazy, or take such inhuman or fantastic forms as trees of indescribable height or the second moon in the sky.

Kitsune feed on the life or spiritual power of the people they come into contact with.

She is able to ignite a blue glow with her breath or tail. There is also a belief that she does not just create a light that can move, but holds a lighted horse bone in her mouth.

Kitsune in popular culture