The Nine-Tailed Fox and Tamamo-no-Mae
A nine-tailed fox said to have bewitched rulers in China, India and Japan. Disguised as the beautiful Tamamo-no-Mae, it won over the retired Emperor Toba, was unmasked, killed on the plain of Nasu and turned into the Killing Stone. Follow Japan's most famous fox legend.
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The connections in words
- Nine-Tailed Fox (Kyubi no Kitsune) Its disguise → Daji It bewitched King Zhou of Shang and is said to have brought down his kingdom.
- Nine-Tailed Fox (Kyubi no Kitsune) Its disguise → Lady Kayo It is said to have bewitched a king of India.
- Nine-Tailed Fox (Kyubi no Kitsune) Its disguise → Tamamo-no-Mae In Japan it took the form of the beauty Tamamo-no-Mae.
- Yoko (Fox Yokai) The mightiest fox → Nine-Tailed Fox (Kyubi no Kitsune) Foxes grow more tails the longer they live, and the nine-tailed fox is the highest of all.
- Retired Emperor Toba Favorite → Tamamo-no-Mae Retired Emperor Toba loved Tamamo-no-Mae deeply.
- Abe no Yasunari Exposed her → Tamamo-no-Mae He saw that Tamamo-no-Mae caused the emperor's illness and revealed her true form through prayer.
- The Fox Hunt of Nasu Killed it → Nine-Tailed Fox (Kyubi no Kitsune) The army killed the fox that had fled to Nasu.
- Nine-Tailed Fox (Kyubi no Kitsune) Became a stone → Sessho-seki (Killing Stone) The slain fox became a stone that gave off poison and killed anything that came near.
- The Monk Genno Shattered it → Sessho-seki (Killing Stone) The monk Genno is said to have shattered the stone and calmed its spirit.
- Matsuo Basho Visited it → Sessho-seki (Killing Stone) Matsuo Basho visited the Killing Stone on his journey to the deep north.
- Kitsunebi (Fox Fire) Fox lights → Yoko (Fox Yokai) Fires burning in the fields at night were said to be the work of foxes.
The Story
- A fox across three lands
The fox with nine tails is said to have disguised itself as Daji, consort of a Chinese king, and as Lady Kayo in India, bewitching rulers in each land.
- The mightiest fox
Foxes are said to grow more tails and power the longer they live. The nine-tailed fox stands at the top of all fox yokai.
- Tamamo-no-Mae at court
Crossing to Japan, the fox became Tamamo-no-Mae, a beautiful and learned woman, and won the love of the retired Emperor Toba.
- Unmasked
Then the emperor fell ill. The onmyoji Abe no Yasunari saw that Tamamo-no-Mae was the cause, and when he prayed, she revealed her fox form and fled.
- The battle of Nasu
The fox fled to the plain of Nasu (Tochigi Prefecture), but was killed by the army of Miura-no-suke and Kazusa-no-suke.
- The poisonous Killing Stone
The slain fox turned into a great rock whose poison killed birds and beasts that came near: the Sessho-seki of Nasu. Later the monk Genno is said to have shattered it to calm its spirit.
- The stone Basho visited
Matsuo Basho also visited the Killing Stone on his journey. In 2022 the stone was found split in two, causing a sensation.