名所江戸百景 王子装束えの木大晦日の狐火 Foxes Meeting at Oji (or New Year’s Eve Foxfires at the Changing Tree, Oj
名所江戸百景 王子装束えの木大晦日の狐火 Foxes Meeting at Oji (or New Year’s Eve Foxfires at the Changing Tree, Oji), #118 from the series One Hundred Views of Edo, 1857 by Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese)It was believed that on New Year’s Eve all the foxes of the surrounding provinces would gather at a particular tree near Oji Inari Shrine, the headquarters of the regional cult of the god Inari. There the foxes would change their dress for a visit to the shrine, where they would be given orders for the coming year. On the way, the animals would emit distinctive flames by which local farmers were able to predict the crops of the coming year. -- source link
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