Note 10 — Chapter XXXIV

The fox is regarded by the Japanese as a sort of divinity, though, according to Siebold, they seem in doubt whether to reckon it a god or devil. If a Japanese is placed in circumstances of doubt or difficulty, he sets out a platter of rice and beans as a sacrifice to his fox; and if the next day any of it is gone, that is regarded as a favorable omen. Wonderful stories (equal to any of our spirit-rapping miracles) are told of the doings of these foxes. Titsingh gives the following by way of specimen: The grandfather of his friend, the imperial treasurer of Nagasaki, and who had in his time filled the same office, despatched one day a courier to Yedo with very important letters for the councillors of state. A few days after he discovered that one of the most important of the letters had been accidentally left out of the package,—a forgetfulness which exposed him to great disgrace. In his despair he recurred to his fox and offered him a sacrifice. The next morning he saw, to his great satisfaction, that some of it had been eaten; after which, upon going into his cabinet, the letter which he had forgotten to send was nowhere to be found. This caused him great uneasiness, till he received a message from his agent at Yedo, who informed him that, upon opening the box which contained the despatches, the lock of it appeared to have been forced by a letter pressed in between the box and its cover from without,—the very same letter, as it proved, left behind at Nagasaki. The more intelligent, says Titsingh, laugh at this superstition, but the great body of the people have firm faith in it. There are in Japan, according to Siebold, two species of foxes, very much like the ordinary ones of Europe and America, and, from the immunity which they enjoy, great nuisances. The white fox, of which the skin is much prized, is found only in the Kurile Islands.