As she walked down the path toward the place they were to meet, she spied a piece of fried bean curd that someone had apparently dropped while on the way out to the rice paddies. She reached down and picked it up, but as she started to take a bite, it shouted “You lose, fox!”—and changed back into the badger.

While belief in the power of the fox to change shapes and to delude the observer has declined greatly in modern Japan, it has not yet fully disappeared and likely will never disappear from popular folktales. The strength of this Japanese folk belief is most strongly expressed, however, in the best first-person account of the great eruption of Bandai-San in 1888. In the eruption the entire mountain was blown to pieces, devastating an area of many square miles. Forests were leveled, rivers were turned from their courses, and several villages were buried with all of their inhabitants. Casually observing this from another mountain peak several miles away was an old farmer who later described the black cloud of steam and ashes rising to a height of twenty thousand feet and spreading out in the form of a giant umbrella. He described the strange black rain that fell over him, hotter than the hottest bath. He felt the mountain shake beneath him and heard sounds louder than the loudest thunders. He remained quiet, watching it all, however, as he had decided that it was a fox attempting to frighten and delude him.

If you are ever traveling in Japan, remember the many tales of the fox whenever you pass a shrine to Inari with its red torii (gates) and its statues of the fox messengers. Think of foxes when you eat that favorite Japanese picnic food of Inari-zushi (a piece of fried bean curd stuffed with rice, occasionally containing red beans). Remember that the wild drunk whom you meet on the train may simply be possessed by a fox spirit and need exorcism. Especially remember that the beautiful woman in the striking kimono might be a fox in disguise. If you are unable to check to see if she glows in the dark, you can always look for a fried rat.

Thomas Wayne Johnson is professor of liberal studies at California State
University in Chico.