Note 13 — VIII.—WITCHCRAFT AND DEMONOLOGY.

A specimen of the still pervading superstition respecting the Fox, comes from Minatomura, in Ibaraki Ken, Japan. A man found a fox’s hole in his garden. At the same time his wife dreamt that she had seen a fox whom she was satisfied was none other than Inari-sama. Full of dread, the man put this and that together, and came to the conclusion that the hole must be the abode of Inari-sama, and he forthwith had a small temple put up over it. He then called for the Shinto priest; and after much ado, the matter got abroad, and crowds came to worship at this temple. At last the Saibansho officials of the Ken heard of what was going on, and sent for the man and his wife. The interview must have been somewhat disappointing to them, for the judges told them such superstitions now became criminal; and the punishment due for such follies was 40 days’ imprisonment. As, however, in this instance, it was clearly the result of extreme ignorance on the part of the interesting pair, they were let off with a fine of 3 yen. ↑