The story of KITSUNE

In Japan, there are many myths and legends surrounding the Kitsune ( or fox ), that have persisted through centuries. 

A fox that lives to be 100 grows 2 tales. At 1000 years old, they grow 9 tails and gain supernatural abilities. Stories of shape-shifters and interspecies marriages... Tales of trickster foxes reaching havoc and white foxes carrying divine messages from the gods. 

Today, nearly 3000 Inari shrines in Japan are adorned with a pair of kitsune statues, whom are said to be the messengers of the Kami Inari (  god of prosperity, harvest and household wellbeing ). 

Of the dozens of Kitsune folktales we’ve found, The beauty of Kitsune Wedding stands out. The story depicts the benevolent marriage of 2 foxes...and the mystical bridge of worlds that is marked with a sun shower. 

Today in Japan and East Asia, it is said that when one witnesses a sun-shower, somewhere a fox is getting married. 

Our perfume, FLORAL DELUSION is largely inspired by the film, Dreams, by Akira Kurosawa, which depicts the story of a wedding precession of foxes, and the chance encounter of seeing the unseen. 

You can view a clip of this, here. 

A retelling of the original story of Kitsune Wedding, 

from  Algernon Freeman-Mitford’s “ Tales of Old Japan”, 1910. 

“

Once upon a time there was a young white fox, whose name was Fukuyemon. When he had reached the fitting age, he shaved off his forelock and began to think of taking to himself a beautiful bride. The old fox, his father, resolved to give up his inheritance to his son, and retired into private life; so the young fox, in gratitude for this, laboured hard and earnestly to increase his patrimony. 

Now it happened that in a famous old family of foxes there was a beautiful young lady-fox, with such lovely fur that the fame of her jewel-like charms was spread far and wide. The young white fox, who had heard of this, was bent on making her his wife, and a meeting was arranged between them. There was not a fault to be found on either side; so the preliminaries were settled, and the wedding presents sent from the bridegroom to the bride’s house, with congratulatory speeches from the messenger, which were duly acknowledged by the person deputed to receive the gifts; the bearers, of course, received the customary fee in copper cash.

When the ceremonies had been concluded, an auspicious day was chosen for the bride to go to her husband’s house, and she was carried off in solemn procession during a shower of rain, the sun shining all the while. After the ceremonies of drinking wine had been gone through, the bride changed her dress, and the wedding was concluded, without let or hindrance, amid singing and dancing and merry-making.

The bride and bridegroom lived lovingly together, and a litter of little foxes were born to them, to the great joy of the old grandsire, who treated the little cubs as tenderly as if they had been butterflies or flowers. “They’re the very image of their old grandfather,” said he, as proud as possible. “As for medicine, bless them, they’re so healthy that they’ll never need a copper coin’s worth!”

As soon as they were old enough, they were carried off to the temple of Inari Sama, the patron saint of foxes, and the old grand-parents prayed that they might be delivered from dogs and all the other ills to which fox flesh is heir.

In this way the white fox by degrees waxed old and prosperous, and his children, year by year, became more and more numerous around him; so that, happy in his family and his business, every recurring spring brought him fresh cause for joy.

“