Foxes are not good nor bad, they are very interesting folk creatures. On the good side, they are messengers of the God Inari ( god of fertility, rice, of agriculture, of general prosperity and success). On the bad one they are befriending humans to take advantage of them later.
There are words in Japanese with which Kitsune are said to have trouble pronouncing, one of these words is “Moshi”. because of this people began to answer their doors (and now their modern-day cellphones) with the greeting, “ Moshi-moshi?” to confirm that it is not a Kitsune.
However, there is a very romantic story about a Kitsune, that actually inspired me to make this shoot.
There once was a very lonely man who was hard at work on his farm. He worked day in and day out and had plenty of food to eat and a nice home which he cared for, but he had not a wife. He had searched for many years for a woman to make his own but could never find one suitable enough.
One day while he was about in his field, he looked up to find a staggeringly beautiful woman, she could be nothing less than a Lady, and he fell in love immediately. He asked that she marry him, explaining to her all he had and how he could take care of her and, to his great joy, she agreed.
The couple married and they lived very happily together for many years. To the farmers great joy his wife one day told him that finally she was with child and that they would be a complete family. He was overjoyed and took great care of his wife and their unborn child.
When the baby was finally born, he found that his pet dog had also beget a single puppy. He had hopes that the child and puppy would grow up together and be good companions but as the puppy grew it became increasingly hostile towards the farmer’s wife for no apparent reason.
Months went by like this until one day the pup-turned-dog tore into the Lady’s arm, terrified for her life the woman vanished in a fit of robes and silks and in her place sat a fox with nine tales. She looked up in surprised bewilderment and, realizing what she had done, bolted out of the house and away from the angry jaws of the dog.
Days, weeks, months went by and she did not return. The man was heartbroken, he loved his wife and missed her and did not care that she was really a fox-spirit.
He cried for her every night, wondering the fields in despair, calling out in his voice that grew hoarse and broken from tears for her to please, “Kitsu-ne?”
