<entry id="2171173" stat="A" corpus="jmdict" type="jmdict">
<ent_corp type="jmdict">jmdict</ent_corp>
<ent_seq>2426110</ent_seq>
<k_ele>
<keb>妖狐</keb>
</k_ele>
<r_ele>
<reb>ようこ</reb>
</r_ele>
<sense>
<pos>&n;</pos>
<gloss>fox with supernatural powers</gloss>
<gloss>fox spirit</gloss>
</sense>
<info>
<audit time="2009-02-17 00:00:00" stat="A">
<upd_detl>Entry created</upd_detl>
</audit>
<audit time="2021-10-01 01:22:28" stat="A" unap="true">
<upd_uid>Marcus</upd_uid>
<upd_name>Marcus Richert</upd_name>
<upd_email>...address hidden...</upd_email>
<upd_refs>daijr doesn't define it as a "fox spirit" but as a fox with mysterious powers who fools humans.
I'm starting to doubt we should use the word "fox spirit" at all. I don't think there's a distinction in Japanese folk 
belief between "normal foxes" on the one hand and "fox spirits" on the other hand.</upd_refs>
</audit>
<audit time="2021-10-01 01:31:51" stat="A" unap="true">
<upd_uid>Marcus</upd_uid>
<upd_name>Marcus Richert</upd_name>
<upd_email>...address hidden...</upd_email>
<upd_detl>Hm, maybe "fox spirit" or something like it (that separates it from other foxes) is OK as a translation for 妖狐.
九尾の狐 for example is defined in the following way in the kokugos
daijs: 九本の尾をもつ狐。古くはめでたい獣とされたが、後には、多くの年を経た妖狐とされた。
daijr: （１）中国の古伝説で，太平の世に出るというめでたい獣。
（２）体毛が金色の老狐。妖狐とされる。金毛九尾の狐。
koj: 多くの年を経て、尾が九つにわかれ、変幻自在で人をだますという狐。

only koj doesn't define the 9-tailed fox as a 妖狐.

But "fox _spirit_" implies to me that it's bodiless, ghostlike, but I don't think that's correct, they're not 
supernatural in that way.</upd_detl>
</audit>
<audit time="2021-10-01 04:10:05" stat="A" unap="true">
<upd_name>Marcus Richert</upd_name>
<upd_email>...address hidden...</upd_email>
<upd_detl>I'm thinking something like "fox with supernatural powers" might be better than "fox spirit" (in this and other entries 
dealing with them)</upd_detl>
<upd_refs>Lafcadio Hearn:
http://academia.issendai.com/foxtales/japan-lafcadio-hearn.shtml
Now the fox for whom such a hole is made is an invisible fox, a phantom fox—the fox respectfully referred to by the 
peasant as O-Kitsune-San. If he ever suffers himself to become visible, his colour is said to be snowy white.

According to some, there are various kinds of ghostly foxes. According to others, there are two sorts of foxes only, the 
Inari-fox (O-Kitsune-San) and the wild fox (kitsune). Some people again class foxes into Superior and Inferior Foxes, and 
allege the existence of four Superior Sorts—Byakko, Kokko, Jenko, and Reiko—all of which possess supernatural powers. 
Others again count only three kinds of foxes—the Field-fox, the Man-fox, and the Inari-fox. But many confound the Field-
fox or wild fox with the Man-fox, and others identify the Inari-fox with the Man-fox. One cannot possibly unravel the 
confusion of these beliefs, especially among the peasantry. The beliefs vary, moreover, in different districts. I have 
only been able, after a residence of fourteen months in Izumo, where the superstition is especially strong, and marked by 
certain unique features, to make the following very loose summary of them:

All foxes have supernatural power. There are good and bad foxes.</upd_refs>
</audit>
<audit time="2021-10-03 06:28:31" stat="A">
<upd_uid>jwb</upd_uid>
<upd_name>Jim Breen</upd_name>
<upd_email>...address hidden...</upd_email>
<upd_detl>Let's go with that.</upd_detl>
<upd_diff>@@ -12 +12 @@
-&lt;gloss&gt;mythological fox spirit&lt;/gloss&gt;
+&lt;gloss&gt;fox with supernatural powers&lt;/gloss&gt;</upd_diff>
</audit>
<audit time="2021-12-20 09:26:21" stat="A" unap="true">
<upd_detl>The term fox spirit is used more when this word is translated in manga, books, shows, films, etc. The Wikipedia page, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huli_jing, also uses the term "fox spirit.</upd_detl>
<upd_diff>@@ -12,0 +13 @@
+&lt;gloss&gt;fox spirit&lt;/gloss&gt;</upd_diff>
</audit>
<audit time="2021-12-26 19:36:11" stat="A">
<upd_uid>jwb</upd_uid>
<upd_name>Jim Breen</upd_name>
<upd_email>...address hidden...</upd_email>
<upd_detl>OK</upd_detl>
</audit>
</info>
</entry>