Kitsune Wikipedia. Prince Hanzoku terrorized by a nine tailed fox. Print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, 1. Kitsune, IPA kitsne  listen is the Japanese word for fox. Foxes are a common subject of Japanese folklore in English, kitsune refers to them in this context. Stories depict them as intelligent beings and as possessing magical abilities that increase with their age and wisdom. According to Ykai folklore, all foxes have the ability to shape shift into human form. 1 While some folktales speak of kitsune employing this ability to trick othersas foxes in folklore often doother stories portray them as faithful guardians, friends, lovers, and wives. Foxes and human beings lived close together in ancient Japan this companionship gave rise to legends about the creatures. Kitsune have become closely associated with Inari, a Shintokami or spirit, and serve as its messengers. This role has reinforced the foxs supernatural significance. The more tails a kitsune hasthey may have as many as ninethe older, wiser, and more powerful it is. Because of their potential power and influence, some people make offerings to them as to a deity. Conversely foxes were often seen as witch animals, especially during the superstitious Edo period 1. Originsedit. Japan is home to two red foxsubspecies the Hokkaido fox Vulpes vulpes schrencki, pictured, and the Japanese red fox Vulpes vulpes japonica, neither of which has nine tails. How old is the earth All methods for determining the age of the earth depend on unprovable philosophical assumptions and there is much evidence for a young earth. The answer to the most asked question So who built Stonehenge by Robert John Langdon. Tabtight professional, free when you need it, VPN service. Compressed air energy storage can help keep the grid running and pave the way for renewables. The entire book by Deist pioneer Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason. This insightful book covers topics of God, Deism, reason, Christianity, the Bible, revealed. Game Extractor is a powerful tool that lets you open and manipulate the archive files used in thousands of games. Most modern games have several large files that are. A description of tropes appearing in Celtic Mythology. You have probably heard some stories influenced by these myths, although you might not realize it. Mythology. The configurations of the constellation Orion roughly formed about 1. 5 million years ago, because of relative slow movements of stars within the. Japanese fox myths had its origins in Chinese mythology. 23 Chinese folk tales tell of fox spirits called hli jng Chinese that may have up to nine tails Kybi no Kitsune in Japanese. Many of the earliest surviving stories are recorded in the Konjaku Monogatarish, an 1. Chinese, Indian, and Japanese narratives. 4 The nine tailed foxes came to be adapted as a motif from Chinese mythology to Japanese mythology. 5Smyers 1. Buddhism were introduced into Japanese folklore through similar Chinese stories, but she maintains that some fox stories contain elements unique to Japan. 6EtymologyeditThe full etymology is unknown. The oldest known usage of the word is in the 7. Shinyaku Kegonky Ongi Shiki. Other old sources include Nihon Ryiki 8. Wamy Ruijush c. These oldest sources are written in Manygana which clearly identifies the historical spelling as ki. Following several diachronic phonological changes, this becomes kitsune. Many etymological suggestions have been made, though there is no general agreement Mygoki 1. Early Kamakura period. Mizukagami indicates that it means came ki perfective aspect particle tsu to bedroom ne due to a legend that a kitsune would change into ones wife and bear children. Arai Hakuseki in Tga 1. Tanikawa Kotosuga in Wakun no Shiori 1. Fumihiko in Daigenkai 1. Inari shrine. Nozaki also suggests that the word kitsune was originally onomatopoetic. Kitsu represented a foxs yelp and came to be the general word for fox. Ne signifies an affectionate mood. 7Kitsu is now archaic in modern Japanese, a foxs cry is transcribed as kon kon or gon gon. One of the oldest surviving kitsune tales provides a widely known folk etymology of the word kitsune. 8 Unlike most tales of kitsune who become human and marry human males, this one does not end tragically 91. Ono, an inhabitant of Mino says an ancient Japanese legend of A. D. 5. 45, spent the seasons longing for his ideal of female beauty. He met her one evening on a vast moor and married her. Simultaneously with the birth of their son, Onos dog was delivered of a pup which as it grew up became more and more hostile to the lady of the moors. She begged her husband to kill it, but he refused. At last one day the dog attacked her so furiously that she lost courage, resumed vulpine shape, leaped over a fence and fled. You may be a fox, Ono called after her, but you are the mother of my son and I love you. Come back when you please you will always be welcome. So every evening she stole back and slept in his arms. 8Because the fox returns to her husband each night as a woman but leaves each morning as a fox, she is called Kitsune. In classical Japanese, kitsu ne means come and sleep, and ki tsune means always comes. 1. CharacteristicseditKitsune are believed to possess superior intelligence, long life, and magical powers. They are a type of ykai, or spiritual entity, and the word kitsune is often translated as fox spirit. However, this does not mean that kitsune are ghosts, nor that they are fundamentally different from regular foxes. Because the word spirit is used to reflect a state of knowledge or enlightenment, all long lived foxes gain supernatural abilities. 6There are two common classifications of kitsune The zenko, literally good foxes are benevolent, celestial foxes associated with Inari they are sometimes simply called Inari foxes. On the other hand, the yako, literally field foxes, also called nogitsune tend to be mischievous or even malicious. 1. Local traditions add further types. 1. For example, a ninko is an invisible fox spirit that human beings can only perceive when it possesses them. This obake karuta monster card from the early 1. The associated game involves matching clues from folklore to pictures of specific creatures. Physically, kitsune are noted for having as many as nine tails. 1. Generally, a greater number of tails indicates an older and more powerful fox in fact, some folktales say that a fox will only grow additional tails after it has lived 1. One, five, seven, and nine tails are the most common numbers in folk stories. 1. When a kitsune gains its ninth tail, its fur becomes white or gold. 1. These kybi no kitsune, nine tailed foxes gain the abilities to see and hear anything happening anywhere in the world. Other tales credit them with infinite wisdom omniscience. 1. After reaching 1,0. Tenko ,heavenly foxcelestial fox, the most powerful form of the kitsune, and then ascends to the heavens. ShapeshiftingeditA kitsune may take on human form, an ability learned when it reaches a certain ageusually 1. As a common prerequisite for the transformation, the fox must place reeds, a broad leaf, or a skull over its head. 1. Common forms assumed by kitsune include beautiful women, young girls, elderly men, and even young boys. Sometimes young adult males1. These shapes are not limited by the foxs age or gender,6 and a kitsune can duplicate the appearance of a specific person. 1. Foxes are particularly renowned for impersonating beautiful women. Common belief in medieval Japan was that any woman encountered alone, especially at dusk or night, could be a fox. 2. Kitsune gao or fox faced refers to human females who have a narrow face with close set eyes, thin eyebrows, and high cheekbones. Traditionally, this facial structure is considered attractive, and some tales ascribe it to foxes in human form. 2. Variants on the theme have the kitsune retain other foxlike traits, such as a coating of fine hair, a fox shaped shadow, or a reflection that shows its true form. 2. In some stories, kitsune have difficulty hiding their tails when they take human form looking for the tail, perhaps when the fox gets drunk or careless, is a common method of discerning the creatures true nature. 2. A particularly devout individual may in some cases even be able to see through a foxs disguise merely by perceiving them. 2.