Inari shrines are a commonplace sight in Japan and account for the most common use of the fox image. These scenes are from the Toyokawa-Inari shrine in the Akasaka district of Tokyo. Bottom: Statue of vixen and cub. Top: A worshiper prays at the shrine.

A fox in human form will have a long face with eyebrows that grow together in the middle—a trait that may cause this American anthropologist to have to convince some elderly residents in rural areas that he is what he appears to be, not a fox posing as a foreigner. Dogs are not fooled by the disguised fox and will bark incessantly at one—just as they will at a strange foreigner.

Foxes also have difficulty in pronouncing certain worlds. Moshi is one of the words that foxes are supposed to have great difficulty with, and a folk explanation for the continual use of moshi-moshi in telephone conversations is the need to convince the other party that he is not talking to a fox. If in doubt, the quickest way to expose a fox is to place a fried rat on the road where it will pass. The fox is so fond of fried rats that he will abandon his disguise to eat it.

Shape-changing foxes have been around for a long time in Japan. They have been written about since the eighth century and have been spotted or spoken about as recently as the moment you are reading about them here. They do seem to be more frequent during times of intense social change, however, and there was a tremendous increase in their number as Japan entered the modern age.

In 1889, a tale was widely circulated and believed of a fox having taken the shape of a railway train on the Tokyo-Yokohama line (which opened in 1872). The phantom train seemed to be running straight toward a real train, but never got any nearer to it.