The shapeshifter fox: The imagery of transformation and the transformation of imagery in Japanese religion and folklore

The figure of the shapeshifter (bakemono) is a recurring trope in Japanese discourse, appearing not only in folk lore, but in court histories, religious narratives and village practice from the earliest sources to the present As a being able to transform itself and its surroundings at will, the shapeshifter represents a transgressive figure, challenging the nature and limits of identity by crossing fundamental taxonomic boundaries. As a creature that assumes forms other than its own, the shapeshifter is also inherently duplicitous, raising questions about the reliability of our senses and the possibility of deception. In exploring the meanings and uses of shapeshifter imagery in Japanese history, this study focuses on the figure of the fox (kitsune). As the most ubiquitous of marvelous shapeshifters, the shapeshifter fox represents many of the basic contours of an enduring "logic of shapeshifting" in Japanese discourse, appearing in diverse contexts and genres. Indeed, the shapesiffting of the fox is not only emblematic of the behavior of other spirits, spooks and animals usually associated with the term bakemono; it also reveals the shapeshifting character inherent in a number of other figures and dynamics in Japanese history and culture, including the place of wives in Japanese patrilineality, the nature of revelation in Japanese religion, and the role of money in Japanese society. At the same time, the image of the shapeshifter fox (with all its attendant duplicity, transformation, and outright mischief) also reflects the shapeshiffing qualities of signification itself.