174 ~ Chitose Jinja

 

Japanese Name:  千歳神社
Romanized Reading: Chitose Jinja
English Translation: Thousand Years Shrine
Size: Big
Deity: Toyouke Hime-no-Kami
Fox Count: 4
First Visit: 4-Jul-2018
Location: Chitose
Address: 1 Shinchō, Chitose-shi, Hokkaidō 066-0046

The final fox Shrine I should find in Hokkaido, in the city of Chitose, which is probably best known for being where the airport of Sapporo is located. This one is notably not an Inari shrine, though Toyouke Hime-no-Kami (豊宇気比売神 "Bountiful Heavenly Spirit Goddess") is still related to agriculture, thus it makes sense that foxes - the traditional guardians of crops in Japan - would watch over this shrine. A pair of life-sized black stone foxes watches over the entrance of this shrine, with the left one featuring one kit, and what might be a second one on her back, thus bringing the vixen side count to 9:32.