Kitsune 狐

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About the artwork Kitsune 狐

The kitsune (狐; "fox") is a fictional being of Japanese folklore from the group of the Yōkai, Kami and Han'yō. He is one of Japan's best-known and most familiar, but also most feared mythical creatures. Belief in kitsune has been handed down since early Christian times and continues in rural areas to this day.

Kitsune who are particularly gifted in magic are also said to be able to cast spells on people or take possession of them with the help of black magic. People possessed by kitsune are called kitsune-tsukai (狐付き; "In possession of the kitsune") or tsukimono-suji (憑き物筋; "Under the spell of the animal spirit"). The victim is said to become very withdrawn at first, then increasingly jumpy and aggressive and only eat food that is supposedly also preferred by kitsune and foxes. Last but not least, the possessed person is said to steal from or even attack his own family members. Psychology professor Masatake Morita (森田 正馬; 1874-1938) and folklorist Kunio Yanagita (柳田 國男; 1875-1962) studied the phenomenon of "kitsune families" and possessed people in the early 20th century. Both came to the conclusion that the symptoms and behaviour of the allegedly possessed were on the one hand reminiscent of mental illnesses such as lycanthropy and schizophrenia, but other symptoms were probably also due to rabies infections. In addition, there is the trauma of being stigmatised and banished by their own village communities. In prefectures like Kochi, the superstition about Kitsune-tsuki was still widespread in her time.

From the 17th century onwards, the belief arose that renegade priestly families pursued the cult of capturing fox spirits in order to bring them under control. The subjugated fox spirits would then attack selected victims and take possession of them. Those thus subjugated would then have to be at the service of the priestly family. Such families were called kitsune-mochi (狐持ち; "fox-keepers") and around 1790, laws were passed in various prefectures to persecute, banish or even execute allegedly convicted kitsune-mochi. [Source: Wikipedia]

About the artist 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 with the Art School Alliance Scholarship at the University of Fine Arts Hamburg (HFBK). He lives and works as a comic artist and illustrator in Vienna, Austria.