KITSUNE OF JAPANESE FOLKLORE

Kitsune of Japanese Folklore-

Good afternoon my dearest friends & followers, I just thought I would do some catching up
on my posting. I missed a few days from trying to fix my window10 and a few other things but
I have some time today. It is so hot today 91degrees+ so I am staying inside by a fan trying not to get that migraine that I woke up with...So today we are going to the Japanese folklore of the Japanese foxes. I have found these creatures very interesting because when my son was between 12 and 14. he was very much into the trading cards of the Japanese type and the Japanese film with the nine tail.
However, this post is all on the true folklore of what the Japanese folks believe on the Kitsune believe. The kitsune can have up to nine tails, depending on the age of the fox, its wisdom and power. The only way to kill a kitsune is to cut off all of its tails, as it is said that one of the tails is his main tail which is the source of all its power. Not knowing which tail is the main one, sine basically they all look the same, one would have to cut off all its tails to kill the Kitsune. In the tale of the Kitsune of Japan the fox has up to One, Five, Seven and the most common is the Nine tails in the folklore tales. It is said that when a Kitsune gains its ninth tail its fur becomes either white as snow or shimmering gold. Another power that the Kitsune will gain is becoming a shapeshifter and will usually reach the age of 100+years old. It learns the ability to take a human form as it gains wisdom and power from its last ninth tail. So basically a fox has to live up to a Hundred years before he can become a Kitsune and then gain the powers of shapeshifting form a fox to human and back again. It is also said that the kitsune can duplicate other human beings if they wish. Meaning they can take the look of any human that they wish too. Which could be very creepy. And this could bring out a dark side of the Kisune I have heard. The Kitsune can be either male or female.
However, the Kitsune will usually take the form of a young Japanese girl, These men and women are

said to be very beautiful women and older men. Also the Kitsune are believed to possess superior intelligence, long life and magical powers too! The Kitsune is said to be a type of spiritual entity, which is often translated as fox spirit. However this doesn't me that the Kitsune is a ghostly spirit nor do they act like a normal spirit or ghost. They are fundamentally are a different form or a regular fox. It is said too, that all long-lived foxes with the Kitsune spirit within them gain supernatural abilities.
There are two very common kitsune classifications in the Japanese folklore of the kitsune spirit. 
The zenko- 善狐-which literally means good foxes. These zenko are truly a benevolent, celestial foxes that are associated with the God Inari. These foxes are sometimes called simply the Inari Foxes. On the other hand, The yako-野狐-meaning literally field foxes, also nogitsune. These spirit foxes tend to be mischievous or even malicious. There are other type of Kitsune foxes - like that of the ninko which is an invisible fox spirit that human beings can only perceive when it posseses them. 
It would seem that there are up to thirteen traditional Kitsune which all have the supernatural abilities when in the kitsune form. 
Physically the kitsune are noted for having as many as nine tails-these kyubi no kitsune- 九尾の狐- 
nine-tailed foxes which gain the abilities to see and hear anything that happens anywhere in the entire world.
The thirteen different kinds of the Kitsune each correspond with a element-

Here is a list of the many different kinda kitsune in japan folklore:
1-Heaven or Celestial Kitsune
2-Void or Dark Kitsune
3-Wind Kitsune
4-Spirit Kitsune
5-Fire Kitsune
6-Earth-Kitsune
7-River Kitsune
8-Ocean Kitsune
9-Mountain Kitsune
10-Forest Kitsune
11-Thunder Kitsune
12-Time Kitsune
13-Sound Kitsune
One of the most important things to a Kitsune is their FREEDOM. Another important thing about these interesting creatures of Japan is they don't fare well being locked away or being forced to do something they don't want to do. If you were to do any of the above things to a kitsune would most likely get you killed if you don't free them- even after that you never know about these creatures they may still decided to eat you. The kitsune also love to play tricks on humans, like taking things from people & hiding them so that they never find their stuff.

So basically the Kitsune loves to do anything to piss humans off. Kitsune have their own thing too! These are called Kitsune balls or the star balls, which is a small white-gold ball. I happens to be the kitsune most prized possession-since it's basically their life force in a magical ball.
If you as a human get your hands on a Kitsune's star ball, you would have the ability to control the Kitsune and make the creature do your bidding. There is a cost if you do happen to get a hold of the Star Ball of the Kitsune's. Why? its because as I have said above in these post, the Kitsune hate being stripped of their freedom. So when and it is when creature Kitsune gets their star ball back, it could be a very serious repercussions for the person who took it from the Kitsune. There are some tales about the Kitsune that have difficulty hiding their tails when they take their human form; It is said you might beable to see the Kitsune as in their human form if the fox get drunk. 

This is the most common method of discerning the creature of it true nature. Yet you must be very careful that it doesn't realize that is what you are doing. There are also different foxlike traits in a kitsune, such as their coat of either fine hair, a fox-shaped shadow or a reflection that shows their true form. Another way to tell it they are a 'Kitsune-gao or Fox-faced which refers to the human females who have a narrow face with close set eyes, thin eyebrows & high cheekbones. Basically all of these traits if a woman human has it is showing it Kitsune that is inside them. It would seem that in the Japanese tradition these facial structures are considered attractive, so some of the tales ascribe it to the foxes in human form. 
I found a few interesting facts about the Kitsune:
1-They have a fear & hatred of dogs, even which in human form. Some Kitsune can become so rattled by the presence of a dog, that they'll revert to the shape of a fox to escape.
2-Some folks that are particularly devout individuals, may be able to see through a fox's disguise automatically.
There is one historical story within the Japanese Kitsune that was about the imperfections that are in the kitsune's humane form. His name was Koan and he was credited with wisdom and magical powers of divination. At least that is what the tale says... Apparently the tale of Koan was staying at his home of one of his devotees when he scaled his foot entering a bath because the water was too hot. Out of enormous pain, Koan ran out of his bathroom naked. When the folks of the household saw koan, they were astonished to see that Koan had fur covering much of his body, along with a fox's tail. Apparently Koan had transformed himself in front of all without knowing it because he was in so much pain. He become a elderly fox running away.

There are other supernatural abilities that the Kitsune which are more dangerous to humans such as generating fire or lighting from either their mouths or fox tails. Another magick ability is to willfully manifest in dreams of others, flight, invisibility, and lastly they can create illusions that are so elaborate as to be almost indistinguishable from reality. Some other tales speak of the kitsune with even greater powers-Like the ability to bend time and space. Drive people mad or even take fantastic shapes such as a tree of incredible height or a second moon in the sky. Other been known to have characteristics that of vampires or succubi and will feed on the life or spirit of human beings. This generally only happens through sexual contact.
An few more interesting facts about the Kitsune of Japan.
Their real name - Kitsunetsuki-狐憑き-means the state of being possessed by a fox. The victim is always a young woman, whom the fox enter beneath her fingernails or through her breasts. In some cases, the victim's facial expressions are said to change in such a way that they resemble those of a fox. Another tradition that holds to fox possession can cause illiterate victims to be temporarily gain the ability to read. It would seem that Kitsune was measured as a illness. In the very early Heian period in Japan it was very common to diagnosis it as a mental illness up to the early 20th century. In the late century of Japan, there was a Doctor by the name of Shunichi Shimamura that noted that physical diseases that caused fever were often considered Kitsunetsuki. In the ancient past, when such gentle measure failed or a priest wasn't available for an exorcism to drive the fox out, the victims of Kitsunetsuki were beaten or badly burned in hopes of forcing the fox spirit to leave.

Over the years into the 21th century the belief has lost most of the strength it use too. However, the stories of fox possession still appears in the tabloid press and popular media at times. One notable occasion involved allegation that a member of the Aum Shinrikyo cult had been possessed. It is also a long belief that the condition symptoms include cravings of rice or sweet red beans, listlessness, restlessness and aversion to any eye contact. There are a few good aspects being possessed by a kitsune, that is if their human being host treat them with respect. What the kitsune might do, is use their magic to give a long live, protection, knowledge to the human host live without illness. Another interesting story was in the 12th century, which tells of a minister that moved into an old mansion only to discover a family of foxes living there. At first he tried to scare the family of foxes away, then claimed that the house 'has been ours for many years, and...we wish to register a vigorous protest. The minister refused and the foxes resign themselves to moving to another abandoned lot nearby. Lastly the Kitsune are commonly portrayed as lovers, usually in stories involving young human males and a Kitsune who takes the form of a human woman. In most cases the Kitsune may be a seductress. These stories in the Kitsune are usually in romantic nature. What happens in the lover verses the kitsune, the young man unknowing marries the fox, who proves as a devoted wife at first. However, over the years of marriage the kitsune has a harder time keeping her kitsune hidden from her husband. Her husband eventually discovers the fox's true nature, and the fox-wife is forced to leave him. In some cases the husband may wakes as if he was in a bad dream, when he wakes he is filthy, disoriented and far from home. Sadly he must then return to confront his abandoned family in shame all do to the kitsune.

Many stories tell of fox-wives bearing children. When such progeny are human, they possess special physical or supernatural qualities that often pass to their own children..

I hope you enjoyed the post on the Kitsune, I found it to be very interesting.

I love you all my dear friends and followers

your friend always

Wendy