How to say fox in Japanese: 狐 (kitsune) and its nine tails
Fox in Japanese is 狐 (kitsune), 9 strokes. It's not just an animal: kitsune is considered a messenger of the deity Inari, can transform into a human, and grows a new tail every century — up to nine. Fox masks at festivals are called 狐面 (kitsunemen).
The Japanese fox serves the god of rice and lives at shrines: stone kitsune figures at the entrances to Inari shrines hold the key to the granary in their mouths. The nine-tailed fox is not an anime invention, but the highest level of this mythology: that many tails are grown over nine hundred years.
How to write 'fox' in Japanese
狐 — значение: fox, vixen — онъёми: コ — кунъёми: きつね — 9 штрих(ов). 9 strokes. Click 'Show order' — the strokes will go as if writing by hand.
The 'animal' radical and kana spelling
On the left is 犭 — the 'animal' radical, the same as in 猫 (cat) and 狼 (wolf). The kanji 狐 itself is not in the school curriculum, so in texts the word is more often written in kana: キツネ or きつね. In shrine names and old inscriptions, 狐 is used.
Fox words and mythology
| Japanese | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| 狐 | kitsune · kitsune | Fox |
| 九尾の狐 | kyūbi no kitsune · kyūbi no kitsune | Nine-tailed fox |
| 狐面 | kitsunemen · kitsunemen | Fox mask |
| 稲荷 | Inari · Inari | Deity of rice, whose messenger is the fox |
| 狐の嫁入り | kitsune no yomeiri · kitsune no yomeiri | Sunshower (literally 'fox's wedding' — rain while the sun shines) |
| きつねうどん | kitsune udon · kitsune udon | Udon with fried tofu (foxes, according to belief, love aburaage) |
Why the fox is Inari's messenger
Inari is the deity of rice and prosperity, and foxes protected fields from rodents. From practical benefit grew mythology: at the entrances to Inari shrines stand stone kitsune, and throughout Japan there are more than thirty thousand such shrines — more than for any other deity.
Write 狐 yourself
Trace the character along the guides — the system will evaluate each stroke.
FAQ
- How do you say 'fox' in Japanese?
- 狐 (kitsune). It is more often written in kana — キツネ or きつね — because the kanji is not in the school curriculum.
- Who is kitsune in mythology?
- A fox spirit, messenger of the deity Inari. According to belief, with age it gains new tails — up to nine — and can take human form.
- Where do the nine tails come from?
- 九尾の狐 (kyūbi no kitsune) — a fox that has lived about nine hundred years: it is believed that each century adds a tail, and the nine-tailed one gains almost divine power.
- Why is udon with tofu called 'kitsune'?
- Fried tofu aburaage is traditionally offered to Inari's foxes. The dish with such tofu got the name きつねうどん.
Updated: 2026-07-25