adamdaniel

Foxfires at the Changing Tree

On New Year’s Eve, the foxes creep,
Through darkness to the changing tree,
The old Ōji Inari shrine,
The site of their corroboree,

Their tails like feathers, puffed and tall,
Their “kitsunebi” fires aglow—
A sign the farmers duly heed,
To see if harvest wealth will flow,

The foxes dress in dapper garb,
In overcoats and formal robes,
Then meet at the enoki tree,
Under the stars — like dainty globes,

They congregate before the shrine,
The mists in hanging shrouds of white;
Ethereal and ghost like veils,
Enveloping the silent night,

The foxes bring a magic light,
A luminescent majesty,
A boon upon the rice field crops,
That grow near the hackberry tree,

The foxes are a spirit guide,
The pride of the Inari cult,
Who worship at the Shinto shrine,
Who animals and gods consult,

The lanterns set, the cult awake—
They heed the light the foxes make,
Before returning to their fields,
With swinging scythe and pushing rake,

A pagan consultation this,
Under the stars in the abyss,
The foxes’ light — the gift of god,
A divine blessing, nature’s bliss…

AD Lovkis, 02/07/25

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The “New Year’s Eve Foxfires at the Changing Tree, Ōji” refers to a famous woodblock print by Utagawa Hiroshige, depicting a Japanese folk legend. It portrays foxes gathering at a large hackberry (enoki) tree near the Ōji Inari Shrine in Tokyo, on New Year’s Eve, to change into formal attire before visiting the shrine. The foxes are also depicted creating “foxfires” (kitsunebi), which farmers would traditionally use to predict the year’s rice harvest.