kitsune kuyo legends

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. Japanese legends and tales 伝説　民話 昔話 - Introduction .
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kitsune kuyoo 狐供養と伝説 Legends about Fox memorial service
and about Inari, the Fox Deity

. kitsune densetsu 狐　伝説 fox legends .
- Introduction -




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- - - - - ABC List of the prefectures :

.......................................................................... Aichi 愛知県
南設楽郡 Minami-Shitara district 長篠村 Nagashino

A fox welcomet the dead souls at the graveyard and asked them if the 供養 memorial service at their family was done well enough.
If they were content with their family offerings, the fox got angry, pooped on the ground and run off.
If they were unhappy with their family offerings and asked the fox to curse them, the fox was happy and went off to bewitch a family member.


.......................................................................... Aomori 青森県
北津軽郡 Kita-Tsugaru district

tanuki to kitsune 狸，狐 badger and fox
In the mountain behind 地蔵堂 the Jizo Hall there was another small hall with a few small stone statues.
People called this 賽の河原 Sai no Kawara, the Children's Limbo, waiting to go to the other world after death.
Before the Jizo Hall was built, a fox or a Tanuki roamed there and swindled people who wanted to pass. If this happened, such a person would soon die.
To appease their soul and hold 供養 memorial services for them, the Jizo Hall was erected.

. Jizo Bosatsu and Sai no Kawara 賽の河原 .
The Sai no Kawara at 恐山 Mount Osorezan in Aomori is especially famous.


.......................................................................... Fukushima 福島県
福島市 Fukushima city 飯坂町 Iizaka

This story was told at the end of the Edo period.
When the ancestors of the 安斎氏 Anzai family experienced a difficult birth, a fox appeared and died in front of their home. When they asked a shaman about the meaning of this, they were told that this fox was a messenger of the famous Fushimi Inari from Kyoto. The fox had carried the curse for a difficult birth.
Therefore they erected a small sanctuary and held a memorial service for the fox.
This is the 御仁稲荷 Gojin Inari.

. Fushimi Inari Taisha 伏見稲荷大社 - Kyoto .


.......................................................................... Kanagawa 神奈川県
横浜市 Yokohama 生麦村 Namamugi

daija 大蛇 huge serpent
Once upon a time, some few hundred years ago
a man from Namamugi village broke the promise to his dead wife and married again.
The jealous wife turned into a huge serpent, appeared in the local pond and attacked the man. He apologized to the soul of his dead wife and held a memorial service for her.
A few years later, an epidemic broke out in the village and many died. Some people saw a dream about a fox barking and running in front of 稲荷神社 the Inari Shrine or a huge serpent carrying a dead body from the Inari shrine to the sea.
The people followed the advice of a shaman, made a serpent of straw and purified it in a memorial service, then carried it around each home to appease the souls of the husband (fox) and his wife (serpent).


.......................................................................... Shiga 滋賀県
蒲生町 Gamo town

A fox shape-shifted into 地蔵 Jizo Bosatsu and did not let people pass the road.
People thought this was the curse of a fox and held a memorial service for the fox at the local 稲荷神社 Inari Shrine during the 地蔵盆 Jizo Bon rituals for the ancestors.
They made a special statue of Jizo, now called
bake-Jizoo 化け地蔵 Bake-Jizo, the Monster-Jizo.

. Bake-Jizo　化け地蔵　/ 化地蔵 Jizo as a yokai monster .

. Jizoo Bon 地蔵盆 Jizobon, Jizo Bon .
ancestor ritual on August 24, mostly in Western Japan.


.......................................................................... Tochigi 栃木県
上都賀郡 Kami-Tsuga district

kyuubi no kitsune 九尾の狐 a fox with nine tails
A favorite dish of the Tochigi region is shimotsukare シモツカレ.
Shimotsukare is usually made by simmering vegetables, soybeans, abura-age (あぶらあげ or deep fried tofu skins, a favorite of foxes) and sake kasu (酒粕, literally rice pulp from fermented sake). Common additional ingredients include grated raw radish and carrots.



- - - - - Once upon a time
there lived a fox with nine tails at 殺生岩 Sesshoseki who caused a lot of trouble. The villagers killed it after luring it with this dish of Shimotsukare.
To appease the soul of the fox this dish is now prepared in a memorial service on hatsu-u-no hi (初午の日, literally; first day of horse in the month of February) together with sekihan ritual red rice as an offering to appease the legendary fox deity, Inari-no-shin (稲荷の神) Inari no Kami.

- Matsuo Basho visiting Sesshoseki - Oku no Hosomichi　-
. - - Station 9 - Sesshoseki 殺生岩 - - - .
The fox is the spirit of Tamamo no Mae 玉藻前 - Tamamo Gozen 玉藻御前


source : prometheusblog.net/201
九尾狐 Kyubi-Ko fox

. Dishes from Tochigi - しもつかれ shimotsukare .



.......................................................................... Tokyo
墨田区 Sumida ward

. Mimeguri Jinja 三囲神社 / 三圍神社 Mimeguri Shrine .
三囲稲荷神社 Mimeguri Inari Shrine
..... Out of nowhere an old white fox appeared, walked around the statue three times (mi meguri)
and then fell down dead. This is the origin of the name.


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- reference : nichibun yokai database 妖怪データベース -

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. Legends about Kobo Daishi Kukai - 弘法大師　空海 - 伝説 .

. Japanese legends and tales 伝説　民話　昔話 - Introduction .

- Yookai 妖怪 Yokai Monsters of Japan -
- Introduction -

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- #kitsunekuyo #kuyokitsune #foxlegends -
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