Ask John: Can You Explain 9 Tailed Foxes?

Question:
In 2 anime, Pokemon and Digimon Tamers, a fox with 9 tails appears. Both use fire as an element and have Shinto symbols around them. Is this a legend in Japan or coincidence?

Answer:
The fox is a creature of supernatural power and mystery in Japanese tradition. According to Japanese folklore, foxes are shape-shifters and often disguise themselves as women in order to seduce men, for benevolent or malicious intent. The “kyubi no kitsune” or “kyubi kitsune,” fox with nine tails, is the ultimate shape changing fox of Japanese myth. The nine tailed fox has appeared in anime virtually as long as anime itself has existed, dating back to at least the 1967 anime film “Kyubi no Kitsune to Tobimaru,” (Tobimaru and the Fox with Nine Tails). More recent examples include Murphy, the shape changing kyubi kitsune of Rumiko Takahashi’s The Supergal, and Sakura, the conniving anthropomorphic, would be kyubi kitsune of Hyper Police. Normal single tailed shape changing foxes also appear in anime including Yu Yu Hakusho, Inuyasha and Pon Poko, and in Neil Gaiman’s illustrated Sandman novel based on Japanese myth, The Dream Hunters.

In fact, the shape-shifting fox is such a ingrained element of Japanese myth and culture, that its influence has become a part of normal Japanese routine. The term “moshi-moshi” is often heard as a greeting on the phone. In fact, “moshi-moshi” does not have an intrinsic meaning. It’s simply a phrase that, supposedly, foxes cannot pronounce, so if you say this over the phone and receive a response, the person you’re speaking to is not a fox in disguise.