There are two common classifications of kitsune. The zenko (善狐, literally good foxes) are benevolent, celestial foxes associated with the god Inari; they are sometimes simply called Inari foxes. On the other hand, the yako (野狐, literally field foxes, also called nogitsune) tend to be mischievous or even malicious.[8]
Kitsunetsuki (狐憑き or 狐付き; also written kitsune-tsuki) literally means the state of being possessed by a fox. In some cases, the victims' facial expressions are said to change in
such a way that they resemble those of a fox. Japanese tradition holds
that fox possession can cause illiterate victims to temporarily gain the
ability to read.[28] Though foxes in folklore can possess a person of their own will, Kitsunetsuki is often attributed to the malign intents of hereditary fox employers, or tsukimono-suji.[29]
Embedded in Japanese folklore as they are, kitsune appear in numerous Japanese works.
In Japan, kitsunetsuki was noted as a disease as early as the Heian period and remained a common diagnosis for mental illness until the early 20th century.[32][33]
In medicine, kitsunetsuki is an culture-bound syndrome unique to Japanese culture. Those who suffer from the condition believe they are possessed by a fox.[36]
One must realize that many beings or
stories about them were spun and deliberately invented by professional
writers during the Edo Era and earlier, and they are not folkloric in the strict sense.
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