Fox

Tradition / Region: Japanese Mythology
Alternate Names: Nogitsune, Field Fox
Category: Fox

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The Myth

In the regions of Kyūshū, people speak of a fox spirit called the Yako, a small and elusive being that lives among the fields and hills.

Unlike the grand fox spirits of old tales, the Yako is said to be tiny, only a little larger than a mouse and smaller than a cat. It may be black or white, and some say it cannot be seen at all. Though small, it rarely travels alone. Stories tell that when a Yako moves, many others follow it, and people speak of a “thousand-fox company” traveling together unseen.

The Yako is feared most for its power to possess humans. When it slips into a person’s body, illness and strange behavior follow, and this condition is called yako-tsuki. It is said the spirit may hide beneath a person’s arm or enter through a weakness in the body, bringing sickness and weakness in its wake.

Families in some places are believed to keep Yako spirits as familiars. Such households pass the fox down through generations, and their descendants may become possessed as well. These spirits can be sent against enemies, causing misfortune or illness to those the family resents. Yet keeping a Yako is dangerous. If a household cannot sustain it, the fox may instead possess their livestock, bringing trouble to the family itself.

Because of this, people once took precautions. Some avoided letting wounds or scars be touched by unseen spirits, and others scattered ashes or kept protective objects nearby to prevent the fox from entering their homes.

Thus the Yako is remembered as a hidden fox of the countryside — small, invisible, and easily overlooked, yet capable of bringing illness, wealth, or ruin to any household it chooses to follow.

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Gallery

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Sources

yokai.com. (n.d.). Yako. Retrieved March 1, 2026, from https://yokai.com/youko/.

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Tradition / Region: Japanese Mythology
Alternate Names: Izuna
Category: Fox

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The Myth

In the mountains of central Japan there are said to live tiny fox spirits known as Kudagitsune, or Pipe Foxes. No larger than a rat, they are thin and quick, easily hidden in sleeves, pockets, or even carried inside bamboo tubes, from which they take their name.

In the wild they live quietly like small animals, keeping to forests and hills and rarely showing themselves to people. But sometimes they are captured or tamed by sorcerers and fortune tellers. Once brought into a household, they become loyal familiars, serving not just one master but an entire family.

Such families gain unusual powers. They can divine the future, uncover hidden matters, and send their fox spirits out to trouble enemies. The Kudagitsune may bring sickness, misfortune, or unrest to those their owners wish to harm. Because of this, households known to keep these spirits are often feared or avoided by their neighbors.

It is said that families with Kudagitsune can easily obtain wealth and goods, as the spirits help them gather what they desire. Yet this blessing carries danger. The foxes multiply quickly, and a household may soon be overrun by dozens of them. If too many gather, they consume the family’s stores and bring ruin. Yet trying to drive them away or give them to others is risky, for the spirits do not always leave peacefully.

Thus the Kudagitsune are remembered as small but powerful foxes of the mountains — spirits easily hidden, easily summoned, and difficult to control once they have made a home among humans.

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Gallery

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Sources

yokai.com. (n.d.). Kudagitsune. Retrieved March 1, 2026, from https://yokai.com/kudagitsune/?srsltid=AfmBOoqZZZy49yfR6b2t7RCSgU5OdiIb0bLLwmCsJyCVlgHgwzj_CC5m.

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Tradition / Region: Japanese Mythology
Alternate Names: Hafukohotsu Fox of Hirofuchi Mikura
Category: Fox

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The Myth

In Hirofuchi Village, where the Date clan once kept its rice storehouses, many old foxes and raccoon dogs were said to live nearby, often frightening the villagers.

One night, a man assigned to guard the storehouse sat alone by the hearth, smoking. Suddenly his father appeared at the door, visiting at an unusual hour with no clear reason. The guard watched him closely and noticed something strange. His father was blind in one eye — the left — yet now that eye was shut while the other was open. Realizing this could not be right, he understood that the visitor must be a fox in disguise.

Hiding his suspicion, he spoke cheerfully.
“I have some rice cakes the villagers gave me. Would you like some?”

The false father smiled and accepted. The guard continued, pretending to think aloud about how his father preferred to eat them. The disguised fox hesitated, unsure of the answer, then finally replied,
“I… like hafukohotsu…”

The guard knew at once the creature had failed to say the name of the kinako rice cakes his real father loved. Still pretending nothing was wrong, he served the fox the bean-flour mochi and let him eat.

Later, as the guard prepared to sleep, he told the visitor there was no spare bedding and asked whether he could sleep wrapped in an empty rice sack. A real father would have taken offense, but the fox eagerly agreed. Seeing his chance, the guard wrapped the sack around him and tied it tightly with rope.

The fox complained mildly but soon fell asleep.

When dawn came and sunlight reached the storehouse, the creature realized it had been trapped. It struggled desperately, but the ropes held fast, and at last its tail slipped from the sack, revealing its true form — a large, old fox.

The story spread quickly through Hirofuchi and beyond. People laughed at the foolish fox who could not pronounce the name of rice cakes and had allowed himself to be tied up so easily. From then on, it was remembered as the Hafukohotsu Fox of Hirofuchi, a tale passed down to remind people that even clever fox spirits can sometimes be outwitted by careful eyes and quick thinking.

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Gallery

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Sources

Tyz-Yokai Blog. (n.d.). Hafukohotsu Fox. Retrieved March 1, 2026, from https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1077543077.html.

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Tradition / Region: Japanese folklore (Tottori Prefecture)
Alternate Names: Oharu-gitsune, Oharu the Fox
Category: Fox, shapeshifter, household spirit

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The Myth

In the port town of Akasaki, there once lived a fox spirit called Harugitsune, known affectionately as Oharu. She made her home in the forest behind Lord Ikeda’s rice storehouse, where a great pine tree stood on a steep cliff. At its roots was a hollow, and there Oharu lived with her children.

To care for them, she often slipped into town disguised as a human maid. She covered her ears with a handkerchief and folded the hem of her kimono to hide her tail. In this form she entered busy homes, helping with chores and quietly taking food back to the forest.

Oharu was mischievous but gentle. While serving tea, she would sometimes scoop ashes from the brazier and drop them into a teacup, smiling to herself. Before long, the townspeople realized she was a fox, yet they did not drive her away. Instead they welcomed her kindly.

Whenever someone teased her by saying, “I saw it, Oharu-san,” she would only laugh softly, “Huff, huff,” even when her tail slipped into view. The people would continue to invite her in, pour tea for her, and watch her playful tricks with fond amusement.

After her work was done, they gave her food to carry home, and she would return to her den in high spirits, smiling as she went back to her waiting children.

It was also said that Oharu kept a lamp burning in her den. She bought oil for it from a local shop at night, paying with coins that turned into camellia leaves by morning. The shopkeeper knew he had been fooled, yet he sold to her willingly, charmed by her gentle nature.

In time, people tied a pole and basket to the great pine tree above her den to use it as a marker for sailors watching the weather. As more people came and went, a path formed through the forest, and eventually the foxes vanished from the hollow at the tree’s base.

Afterward, a shrine to Inari was built on the spot. And though the forest changed, people remembered that once a kindly fox named Oharu had lived there, moving between town and wilderness, laughing softly as she cared for her young.

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Gallery

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Sources

Tyz-Yokai Blog. (n.d.). Harugitsune. Retrieved March 1, 2026, from https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1075303216.html.

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Tradition / Region: Japanese Mythology
Alternate Names: White-Haired Eight-Tailed Fox
Category: Fox

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The Myth

In a village east of Incheon, strange events troubled the people for several years. Young men returning from nearby villages often spoke of meeting a beautiful woman on the mountain path at dusk. She appeared suddenly, graceful and calm, yet before anyone could question her, she vanished just as mysteriously. Each time she was seen, chickens from the village also disappeared.

One evening, a man working in a field encountered such a woman. She appeared beside him without warning and spoke gently, saying that traveling alone at night was lonely and asking him to accompany her to a distant village. Glad for company, he agreed and walked beside her.

But before long he collapsed and lost consciousness.

When he awoke, others told him what they had seen. He had wandered toward a hole by the roadside, thrusting his head inside while struggling as though something unseen held him. When the villagers examined the hole, they found it filled with countless bones of chickens and other birds. The tunnel stretched deep into the earth, so far that no one could see its end.

People came to believe that the mysterious woman and the vanishing livestock were connected. The hole was said to be the dwelling of a fox spirit, and the woman herself its human form.

Soon afterward, a witness claimed to have seen the creature directly — a fox with a reddish body and eight tails, each tail shining white as snow. Word spread quickly, and the tale of the White-Haired Eight-Tailed Fox traveled far beyond the village. Some even spoke of organizing a hunt to capture the strange fox alive.

Thus the spirit of the mountain path was remembered as a fox of great age and power, appearing as a beautiful woman by twilight and returning to the earth by night, leaving only bones and rumors behind.

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Gallery

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Sources

Tyz-Yokai Blog. (n.d.). Hakumō Hachibi Kitsune. Retrieved March 1, 2026, from https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1040562430.html.

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Tradition / Region: Japanese Mythology
Alternate Names: Seven-Tailed Old Fox
Category: Fox

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The Myth

In the Takamatsu area of Shimada Village, farmers began to suffer repeated thefts of chickens and other small livestock. The villagers suspected that a fox or raccoon dog was responsible, but the losses continued, and people grew uneasy.

At last, on the night of May 18th, several young men armed themselves and hid in wait, determined to catch the culprit. They watched through the darkness until, around the second hour of the night, a large fox suddenly appeared.

The men rushed after it and, after a hard chase, managed to capture it. When they finally saw the creature clearly, they realized it was no ordinary animal.

The fox was enormous, nearly twice the size of a normal fox, and its body bore the look of great age. Most striking of all were its tails — seven of them, each forked and spreading like branches. Around its neck was a strange mark shaped like a coin, as though it carried a crest upon its fur.

Those who saw it said the sight recalled the legends of powerful fox spirits, like the golden nine-tailed fox of old tales. The captured creature was whispered to be a furugitsune, an ancient fox that had lived long enough to gain strange power and form.

And so the fox of Shimada Village passed into local memory as a sign that, even in ordinary fields and farms, creatures of great age and mystery might still walk unseen among humans.

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Gallery

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Sources

Tyz-Yokai Blog. (n.d.). Shichibi-Furugitsune. Retrieved March 1, 2026, from https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1039850186.html.

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Tradition / Region: Japanese Mythology
Alternate Names: Aka-eri
Category: Fox

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The Myth

Near Sendasuka Nishi on Chiejima Island there once lay a deep and gloomy body of water known as Dongan Pond. Willow trees leaned over its banks, bamboo thickets surrounded it, and the surface of the water shone a murky blue-black. People already whispered that kappa and raccoon dogs haunted the place.

Around the Taishō period, another rumor spread.

A strange being called Akaeri was said to live in the bushes near the pond. Those who claimed to see it described a creature about the size of a ten-year-old child, with a red body and the features of a fox. Yet what made it most unsettling was not its shape, but its posture.

Akaeri did not skulk or creep like an animal. It sat at the edge of the thicket facing the pond, legs crossed and back straight, like a person quietly resting. From a distance it looked almost human, but the red body and fox-like face betrayed its true nature.

The sight of it was so eerie that schoolchildren walking from Nishichiejima to the elementary school avoided the pond entirely, choosing longer routes rather than pass near the bushes. Workers traveling nearby also spoke of it. One plasterer returning each day would say that a strange red creature sat there again, unmoving, watching the water.

Whether it was spirit, fox, or something else, the figure remained part of the pond’s reputation. And long after the stories faded, people still remembered Dongan Pond as a place where something red once sat silently at the water’s edge, waiting in the reeds.

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Sources

Tyz-Yokai Blog. (n.d.). Akaeri. Retrieved March 1, 2026, from https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1013136220.html.

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