Come and Sleep by Christopher Kincaid

Author:Christopher Kincaid [Kincaid, Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-10-27T04:00:00+00:00

To the Inari God:

Ukita’s daughter is now babbling, apparently possessed by a wild fox. I hope that the fox will be dispersed immediately. When no suitable measures are taken, a nation-wide fox hunt will be ordered.

P.S.

The chief priest of the Yoshida Shrine was also notified concerning this matter.

Hideyoshi [76]

The household of the Shogun wouldn’t stoop to stuffing a daughter’s eyes and nose with sulfur. Other deaths caused by well-meaning family members of fox victims forced the feudal Japanese government to push people toward trained priests and exorcists. If even the Shogun had to beseech the god Inari for help, what could a peasant family expect to do on their own?

The Shogun threatened Inari with a nation-wide fox hunt should the fox fail to leave his adopted granddaughter. This suggests how news of the fox could spread across the whole of Japan, and it shows how possession was a serious matter. A nation-wide fox hunt would consume a vast amount of resources and time. At the same time, such a hunt would dispel any mass hysteria outbreaks the news may cause. Luckily, the letter seemed to work. Hideyoshi didn’t have to order the nation-wide fox hysteria-fueled hunt after all.

Hideyoshi’s letter links wild foxes with the god Inari. What does the goddess of rice have to do with foxes and fox possession?

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