Do they really work? Meh, not really. I bought a set on my second visit in 2023 and still didn't find a girlfriend. They're nice to look at, however.
Also, this is the 2000th shrine/temple that I visited in all of Japan. Which officially makes one quarter of them fox shrines (or more rarely also temples).
In this milestone post, I am going to present some of the anime series that prominently star Kitsune or Youko. I've found a few of them over the years, but still not as many as you'd think, given how prominent a role foxes play in Japanese culture. So without further ado, let's get started with the first one
Japanese Name: 我が家のお稲荷さま
English Translation: Our Home's honorable Inari
Two young brothers find themselves caught up in supernatural affairs, and an ancient mischievous fox spirit that was sealed away is roped into protecting them. That is Tenko Kuugen, and one of their tropes is that they constantly change gender. "If you live long enough, you forget what gender you originally were." is one of their quotes that stuck to me to this very day.
The show is overall lighthearted, but also has regular action fight sequences. It also features a few other fox characters, as well as characters from Shinto and non-Shinto mythology.
Japanese Name: ぎんぎつね
English Translation: Silver Fox
An anime about a silver fox named Gintarou, who is serving as a shrine guardian and a shrine maiden, who is one of the few people who can see him. His former partner, the golden fox Kintarou is often referenced, but never appears on screen. Instead, he is eventually joined by a young Byakko named Haru.
It also introduces some other shrine guardians, as well as everyday problems. There isn't any action to it, but it's a great anime if you want to learn a bit about Shinto.
Japanese Name: 繰繰れ! コックリさん
English Translation: Repeat! Kokkuri-san
This anime has weird written all over it. It starts with a little girl identifying as a doll who accidentally summons the fox spirit Kokkuri. He originally wants to mess with her, but seeing how messed up she already is (eating only cup noodles, among other things) makes himself her self-appointed guardian. Cue in a Tanuki, an Inugami and a Nekogami, and the recipe for wacky chaos is complete.
We also occasionally see Kokkuri-san and some of the other characters in their animal forms. By the way, Kokkuri (狐狗狸 "Fox Dog Raccoon") is a traditional Japanese divination technique, similar to an Ouija board. And given the three characters it is written with, it's no surprise that a fox, a dog and a raccoon come to live in the little doll girl's house in that exact order. The whole anime is wacky harmless comedy from start to finish.
Japanese Name: チロヌップのきつね
English Translation: The Foxes of Chironup
Not a series, but a standalone movie about a pair of foxes who cross the ice to an island named Chironup ("fox" in the Ainu language) in Hokkaido, and start a family there.
This anime is actually an adaptation of a Japanese children's book of the same name. Also, it has a sad ending. It's a beautiful movie that I recommend watching together with someone you can hold close.
Japanese Name: 世話やきキツネの仙狐さん
English Translation: The Meddlesome Fox Senko ("Hermit Fox")
An unhappy, stressed out and lonely office worker suddenly finds a cute and adorable fox girl ready and willing to help him out and care for him. Basically, this is a waifu fan fiction, and that's all there is to it. No action, no grand overarching plot. Just some light humor as Senko sometimes comes into conflict with the modern world.
There's also two other fox characters. But that's it. If you want some shallow fluffiness, check this out. Otherwise, probably not worth your time.
Japanese Name: 妖狐×僕SS
English Translation: The Mystic Fox and I SS (Secret Service)
This is not half as lewd as the cover might make you think. It's about an Oni girl and a Youko, who wants to be with her so desperately that he willingly degrades himself to the rank of a dog.
Despite having some action sequences, this one is pure comedy. Featuring a cast of wacky characters, each of which is rooted to some extent in Shinto lore, they get up to all sorts of crazy antics while pursuing a romance-driven main plot.
Japanese Name: 神様はじめました
English Translation: I started being a god
A high school girl gets made into a god, because why not. In order to help her, a fox spirit named Tomoe, who usually takes the guise of an attractive young man, gets tricked into helping her out.
This anime is also known as "Kamisama Kiss" in the west, and features also a number of other Shinto-inspired characters.
You've probably been waiting for this, so here it is. The reason why it's only mentioned down here is that this anime is mostly about Ninjas, and while Kurama (the nine-tailed fox in it) is a central character and plot device, it is just one of many, while most of the anime is about something else. That stands in stark contrast to the above animes, where every single episode has fox in it.
This anime covers many, many Japanese Youkai, and as such, it should not come as a surprise that a few of its episodes also cover foxes. For example, episode 33 of the 2018 adaptation is about Youko, and episodes 74 and 75 are about the famous Kyuubi-no-Kitsune Tamamo-no-Mae.
And that's it! If you can think of any other fox animes that I missed, be sure to write them in the comment section! I'm always interested in more foxy goodness. =^,^=
Japanese Name: 白狐大明神
Romanized Reading: Byakko Daimyoujin
English Translation: White Fox Great Radiant Deity
Cluster Size: Tiny
Deity: Inari?
First Visit: 25-Dec-2018
Location: Fushimi Inari, Fukakusa Kaidoguchicho
Address: Fukakusa Kaidoguchicho, Fushimi Ward, Kyoto, 612-0805, Japan
Coordinates: 34.97010,135.77759
Also, as a little disclaimer: While I did my best to assign the pictures that I took to the correct shrines, it is entirely possible that some of the pictures about the shrines in this valley - especially those that are closely side-to-side like this one - may be one shrine off. But you can definitely still all find the shrines and pictures that I post here somewhere in this very walkable valley.
Japanese Name: 玉姫大神
Romanized Reading: Gyokuki Ookami
English Translation: Jewel Princess Great Deity
Cluster Size: Tiny
Deity: ?
First Visit: 25-Dec-2018
Location: Fushimi Inari, Fukakusa Kaidoguchicho
Address: Fukakusa Kaidoguchicho, Fushimi Ward, Kyoto, 612-0805, Japan
Coordinates: 34.9701,135.7776
Imagine it like that: There's a tiny cluster, a small shrine with several tiny shrines crammed into its grounds. And right next to it, there's the next such cluster. and it goes on like that all the way down the valley. One way to go about it would be to consider the entire valley one huge cluster, or to name the segments between the rest houses individual clusters. For simplicity's sake, however, I am simply going to refer to each of these "main" shrines that serve as a hub for tiny fox shrines as a cluster.
Anyway, this is the first of them, and there's many more to come. We're clearly not out of fox territory yet.
Japanese Name : 足利稲荷大明神 Romanized Reading : Asahikaga Inari Daimyoujin English Translation : Leg Profit Inari Great Radiant Deity Cluster ...
