Kitsune: 狐 (kitsune), the fox in Japanese folklore
きつね (kitsune, “fox (esp. the red fox, Vulpes vulpes)”) is the Japanese word for a fox. In folklore a kitsune is a fox spirit: a clever, long-lived animal that can take human shape, serves the god Inari at shrines, and plays tricks on people.
The dictionary gives it three senses: the animal, a sly person, and noodles topped with fried tofu. It's written 狐 in kanji and きつね or キツネ in kana: see What is Katakana? and What is Kanji?.
A kitsune has two faces. It is a holy messenger of Inari, shown in stone at shrines, and a trickster that fools priests, merchants and travellers. This guide keeps legend and fact apart.
Kitsune: legend or fact?
Foxes are real animals in Japan, and the stone foxes at Inari shrines are real too. A fox that turns into a person, grows extra tails with age or possesses people is legend, built on the animal over more than a thousand years.
Kitsune powers, tails and the nine-tailed fox
In the stories, a kitsune gains power as it ages. Many stories say a fox grows extra tails only after living 100 years, and one, five, seven and nine tails turn up most often. Nine is the strongest.
The ability people know best is changing shape, 化ける (ばける, bakeru, “to take the form of (esp. in ref. to a spirit, fox, raccoon dog, etc.)”). Stories tell of foxes turning into beautiful women, and the disguise isn't limited by the fox's own age or gender. Disguised foxes slip up in a few ways:
- A tail can show when the fox is drunk or careless.
- Dogs frighten them. In some stories a fox in human form is so rattled by a dog that it turns back into a fox and runs.
- Some tales give a fox a glowing jewel, carried in its tail, that powers its magic. Lose it and the magic weakens.
Is a nine-tailed fox the same as a kitsune?
Not quite. A 九尾の狐 (きゅうびのきつね, kyūbi no kitsune, “nine-tailed fox”) is one particular kind of kitsune, the oldest and strongest, and it began in China. The dictionary says it was originally a Chinese mystical beast whose appearance was considered auspicious. In Japan it is best known as the villain of the Tamamo-no-Mae legend (below), and scholars note that the "nine tails" detail was added to that story in the Edo period.
A general word for a fox with supernatural powers is 妖狐 (ようこ, yōko, “fox with supernatural powers”).
Kitsune and Inari: why foxes guard shrines
稲荷 (いなり, inari, “Inari (god of harvests, Uka-no-Mitama)”) is the Shinto god of harvests, also linked with wealth and fertility. Foxes are not the god. They are Inari's messengers, which Japanese calls 神使 (しんし, shinshi, “messenger of god”). Japanese Wikipedia notes that Fushimi Inari Taisha, the head shrine in Kyoto, makes this point itself: the fox is the god's messenger, not the god.
Why a fox? Japanese Wikipedia gives two reasons. One is wordplay: the god's other name, Miketsu no Kami, sounds like an old word for fox, "ketsu". The other is practical: foxes hunt the rodents that damage grain, and their reddish fur is the colour of ripe rice.
At an Inari shrine you will usually find a pair of stone foxes by the entrance or main hall, often with a red bib. They tend to hold something in the mouth or under a paw:
- A jewel or a key, the most common. The jewel is sometimes read as the wish-fulfilling jewel (宝珠 (ほうじゅ, hōju, “Cintamani stone”)).
- A sheaf of rice, a scroll or a cub, at some shrines.
Fushimi Inari Taisha says there are said to be some thirty thousand Inari shrines across the country, and that its own deity was enshrined in 711.
The offering that links fox and shrine is 油揚げ (あぶらあげ, aburaage, “abura-age”), thin deep-fried tofu. People say it is a fox's favourite food, and shops near shrines sell it for worshippers to offer.
Good foxes, wild foxes and fox possession
Japanese folklore usually sorts kitsune into two groups. The good ones are holy foxes in Inari's service. The wild ones delight in pranks, and some are evil. Most tales are about wild foxes punishing wicked priests, greedy merchants and boastful drunkards. The usual terms are zenko (benevolent fox), yako or nogitsune (wild fox), tenko (celestial fox) and byakko (white fox, a good omen). The dictionary has 白狐 (びゃっこ, byakko, “old, white fox (trad. said to have supernatural powers)”) and 野狐 (のぎつね, nogitsune, “wild fox”), which can also be read yako.
Fox possession
狐憑き (きつねつき, kitsunetsuki, “possession by a fox spirit”) is the belief that a fox spirit could enter a person and make them ill. Medieval tales such as the Konjaku monogatari record many cases. Some families were said to keep a fox spirit and were shunned for it. When Western medicine arrived in the Meiji period, doctors began to describe fox possession as mental illness, and the belief faded after the Second World War.
Famous kitsune stories: the fox wife and Tamamo-no-Mae
Three legends shape the kitsune's image.
The first fox wife, and where the name may come from
One of the earliest Japanese fox tales is in the Nihon ryōiki, a collection of Buddhist tales put together by the monk Kyōkai in the late 8th or early 9th century. A man in Mino province marries a beautiful woman he meets in a field, and she bears him a son. Then the household dog barks at her until she turns back into a fox. The husband asks her to keep coming to him, and she does, every night.
The tale also explains the word: in old Japanese, "kitsu-ne" can be read as "come and sleep", and "ki-tsune" as "always come". Wikipedia says the real origin of the word is not known, so treat this as a charming guess.
Kuzunoha, mother of Abe no Seimei
In the legend, a nobleman, Abe no Yasuna, saves a white fox from a hunter. A woman called Kuzunoha nurses him back to health, and they marry and have a son, Seimei, who becomes a famous astrologer. When the boy sees his mother's tail, she leaves a poem inviting her husband to find her in the Shinoda forest.
Tamamo-no-Mae and the Killing Stone
Tamamo-no-Mae is a clever, beautiful court lady who makes the emperor ill and is exposed as a fox. Two warriors hunt her down on the Nasu plain and kill her. Her spirit then enters a stone, the Sesshō-seki ("Killing Stone"), which was said to give off poison. The stone at Nasu is a real rock, and it split in two on 5 March 2022. The story calls her a nine-tailed fox, but that detail was added later, in the Edo period.
Kitsune in everyday Japanese: udon and sun showers
| Japanese | Reading | Romaji | Meaning | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| きつねうどん | きつねうどん | kitsuneudon | udon with deep-fried tofu | Udon in broth with a sheet of sweet fried tofu |
| いなり寿司 | いなりずし | inarizushi | inarizushi; sushi wrapped in fried tofu | Sushi rice in a pouch of fried tofu |
| 狐の嫁入り | きつねのよめいり | kitsune no yomeiri | rain shower while the sun shines; sun shower | Rain falling while the sun shines |
| 狐火 | きつねび | kitsunebi | pale fiery light seen in fields and mountains at night; will-o'-the-wisp; ignis fatuus | Fox fire: lights on a dark hillside |
| 狐色 | きつねいろ | kitsune-iro | light brown; golden brown | Golden brown, the colour of a fox and of fried food |
Kitsune udon. The name comes from the belief that foxes love fried tofu. One account credits a restaurant called Matsubaya in Osaka in 1893, though Edo is also suggested. In Kansai, udon with fried tofu is kitsune and soba with fried tofu is called tanuki, so "kitsune soba" is not usual there. Outside Kansai the names are looser.
Inari sushi. The pouch of fried tofu is named after Inari too, and the pointed corners are said to look like a fox's ears.
Fox wedding. A sun shower is called kitsune no yomeiri, "the fox's wedding", across much of Japan. Rain under a bright sky looked like a trick played by foxes. The same words also mean the line of lights seen moving across hillsides at night, like a bridal procession with lanterns. Some regions have other names for a sun shower, such as 狐雨 (fox rain) in Kanagawa.
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Questions about kitsune
What does kitsune mean?
Kitsune (狐) means "fox" in Japanese. In folklore it means a fox spirit that can change shape and, in some stories, serves the god Inari.
What does a kitsune symbolize?
A kitsune symbolises cleverness, trickery and the protection of the god Inari. Because Inari is the god of harvests and wealth, foxes also stand for prosperity. The symbol is not simply good or bad.
Is a 9 tailed fox and a kitsune the same?
A nine-tailed fox is a kitsune, but not every kitsune has nine tails. Nine marks the oldest, strongest fox in the stories, and the idea began in China.
What are the 13 types of kitsune?
There is no single official list of 13 kitsune types. Tradition sorts foxes in a few broad ways: good foxes (zenko), wild foxes (nogitsune), celestial foxes (tenko), white foxes (byakko) and foxes by number of tails. Longer lists online differ from site to site.
Can a kitsune be killed?
A kitsune can be killed in the stories: in the Tamamo-no-Mae legend, two warriors kill the fox, though her spirit lives on in the Killing Stone.
Are kitsunes all female?
No. Fox wives are the best-known kitsune in the stories, but not every kitsune is female. A fox's disguise is not limited by its own age or gender.
How long is a kitsune pregnant?
No folklore source gives a length of pregnancy for a kitsune. The stories say only that fox wives bore children, as in the Nihon ryōiki tale.
Can a kitsune fall in love?
A kitsune can fall in love in the stories: in the fox-wife tales, including Kuzunoha, a fox marries a man and has his child, then must leave once found out.
What if you touch a kitsune tail?
The classic sources give no rule about touching a kitsune's tail. In the old tales the tail matters because it gives a disguised fox away. Claims about what a touch does come from modern retellings and games, so treat them as fiction.
Is there a wolf version of a kitsune?
There is no wolf version of the kitsune, but wolves do guard Mitsumine Shrine in Saitama. In 1720 a priest took the arrival of wolves as a sign from the mountain deity and gave out wolf amulets, and stone wolves stand at its entrance in place of the usual 狛犬 (こまいぬ, komainu, “(stone) guardian lion-dogs at a Shinto shrine”). The Japanese word for wolf is 狼 (おおかみ, ōkami, “wolf (Canis lupus)”).
Sources
- Readings and meanings: JMdict (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0), including its notes on 九尾の狐 as a Chinese beast considered auspicious, and the senses of 狐 and 狐の嫁入り.
- Tails, types, dogs, jewels, fox wives, Kuzunoha, Tamamo-no-Mae, kitsune udon: English Wikipedia, Kitsune; Tamamo-no-Mae; Kuzunoha.
- Foxes at shrines: English Wikipedia, Inari shrine; Japanese Wikipedia, 稲荷神; Fushimi Inari Taisha, official site.
- The nine-tailed fox, fox wedding and fox possession: Japanese Wikipedia, 九尾の狐; 狐の嫁入り; 狐憑き.
- Kitsune udon: Japanese Wikipedia, きつねうどん.
- The first fox wife tale: Issendai, Come and Sleep, a translation from the Nihon ryōiki.
- Wolves at Mitsumine Shrine: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Mitsumine Jinja Shrine.
- Holy and wild foxes, and what the tales are about: Yokai.com, Kitsune.
- The shrine count was last checked on Facts on this page last checked on 2026-10-01..
- Reviewed independently; the points about foxes' gender in the stories, the 13 types, the tail-touching claims and the names of kitsune noodles outside Kansai are waiting for a native speaker's check.