About Kitsune 狐

Kitsune are fox-like spirits in Japanese folklore, often associated with Yōkai, Kami, or Han'yō. They are among Japan’s most renowned mythical beings, evoking both fascination and fear. Belief in these supernatural foxes dates back centuries and endures today in some rural regions.

Especially adept kitsune are said to possess humans, a condition known as kitsune-tsukai or tsukimono-suji. Those under a fox’s influence may withdraw from society, become erratic or aggressive, and eat only foods favored by foxes. Early 20th-century scholars, including psychologist Masatake Morita and folklorist Kunio Yanagita, noted parallels between alleged fox possession and certain psychiatric conditions or rabies. They also observed that social stigma could exacerbate these symptoms.

From the 17th century onward, rumors circulated about renegade priestly families who allegedly captured and controlled fox spirits to coerce victims into servitude. Such families, referred to as kitsune-mochi, faced persecution under regional laws around 1790, with punishments ranging from banishment to execution.

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About Vinz Schwarzbauer

Vinz Schwarzbauer (*1987 in Graz, Austria) graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in 2014. In 2011/12, he spent a year in Hamburg on the Art School Alliance Scholarship at the University of Fine Arts Hamburg (HFBK). He was a co-founder of the magazine for narrative drawing "Franz the Lonely Austrionaut" and has illustrated for renowned media and theaters such as Falter, Jacobin Magazine, Der Standard, Burgtheater Wien, and Residenztheater München. His comic debut Mäander was published by Edition Moderne in 2023. Vinz Schwarzbauer lives and works as a comic artist and illustrator in Vienna, Austria.