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Fox parade at Shozoku Inari Shrine
I usually don’t go out for New Year’s Eve, but 2019 was an exception. That night I went to Oji station in Tokyo’s Kita ward. The Shozoku Inari Shrine was the starting point of a rather unusual event. They had a fox parade. It was my first time there.
If you didn’t know, Inari is one of the most important gods of the Shinto pantheon. The deity is connected with prosperity and good fortune. More than one-third of shrines in Japan are dedicated to the god.
During the Edo period, Oji Inari Shrine was a designated prayer center. It was an important place of worship. According to tradition, foxes (the servants of the god) would visit on New Year’s Eve.
They would change into formal clothes under a tree and parade to the shrine. Once there, they would pay homage to Inari. Hiroshige Utagawa, an ukiyo-e artist, made a print about it (click here to see it). The work is very beautiful and mysterious!
Since 1993, local people dressed in kimonos and fox masks re-enact that night. They walk from Shozoku Inari Shrine at midnight to Oji Inari Shrine, arriving in the early hours of New Year’s Day. I was thrilled to see it, if only for a short time!
Time was against me. My house was far away, and I needed to be up for sunrise on New Year’s Day. And I wanted to get these pictures published quickly, so I left early. That was a decision I have regretted ever since! It would have been fun to have done the entire walk to Oji Inari with the group.
Yes, I put it on my bucket list! A New Year’s Resolution? The pandemic has forced its cancellation a couple of times since 2019. With some luck, it will return in 2022.
If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. Have you participated in the Fox Parade? Let us know if you have. I can’t wait to go to it again.
Fox Parade at Shozoku Inari Shrine photo gear:
- Camera Body: X-T2
- Lens: XF 16-55mm F2.8 R LM WR
- Flash: Godox V860II
For other photo spots in this area, look at: