Fox in Europe serves as an example of shrewdness and cunning, nothing more can be stated on this animal except for that. On the other hand fox in Japan, and also in Korea, is an animal that can be located between worlds – the world of humans, and the otherworld. Fox (kitsune) can be just an animal, a prankster, shape-shifter as well as a mighty demon wrecking havoc in every country.
Kitsune as a benevolent animal serves at the shrine of Inari. It is Inari’s messenger and protector of the holy ground. Those foxes are beyond any suspicion as they belong to the deity. Stone figures of kitsune stand in front of every Inari shrine in Japan, sometimes decorated with red scarf (red is the color of Inari).
