Inari Ōkami

File:Blacksmith Munechika, helped by a fox spirit, forging the blade Ko-Gitsune Maru, by Ogata Gekkō.jpg

Inari and her fox spirits help the blacksmith Munechika forge the blade ko-kitsune-maru (Little Fox) in the late 10th century. This legend is the subject of the noh drama Sanjo Kokaji.

Inari (稲荷code: ja is deprecated , also Oinari) is the Japanese kami (spirit) of fertility, rice and agriculture. Inari is sometimes represented as a male, female or both.

The traditional messengers of Inari are foxes.

Inari Ōkami Media

• Blacksmith Munechika, helped by a fox spirit, forging the blade Ko-Gitsune Maru, by Ogata Gekkō.jpg

  Inari and their fox spirits help the blacksmith Munechika forge the blade kogitsune-maru (Little Fox) in the late 10th century. This legend is the subject of the noh drama Sanjo Kokaji.

• A man confronted with an apparition of the Fox goddess.jpg

  Inari appears to a warrior. This portrayal of Inari shows the influence of Dakiniten concepts from Buddhism.

• Vulpes vulpes laying in snow.jpg

  Red fox (Vulpes vulpes), a Vulpes vulpes schrencki native to Hokkaido, lying in the snow.

• Searching the Seas with the Tenkei (天瓊を以て滄海を探るの図code: ja is deprecated , Tenkei o motte sōkai o saguru no zu). Painting by Kobayashi Eitaku, 1880–90 (MFA, Boston). Izanagi to the right, Izanami to the left.

• Inuyama inari 1.jpg

  Statue of a kitsune adorned with a red votive bib in a shrine at Inuyama Castle. Many castles in Japan contain Inari shrines.

• Toyokawa Inari Betsuin.jpg

  Hundreds of Inari can be found at Toyokawa Inari Betsuin in Akasaka.

• FushimiInariTorii.jpg

  Red torii along a path at the Fushimi Inari shrine in Kyoto

• Ojiyama-inari,王子山稲荷,篠山市1021722.JPG

  ojiyama-inari,

• KakigaraInari shrine.JPG

  Kakigara-Inari at Hase-dera (Kamakura)