Hakuzōsu

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Hakuzōsu, also written Hakuzosu or Hakuzousu, is a famous kitsune (fox) figure in Japanese folklore who pretends to be a priest.

Two main versions of the tale center on temples in old provinces. The better-known setting is Shōrin-ji in Izumi Province (now part of Osaka). The temple’s traditional history says a poor priest named Hakuzōsu lived in a small hall there in the 1500s. One day a three-legged white fox appeared, which Hakuzōsu took as a gift from the Inari deity. He raised the fox, which then protected him and frightened away thieves. Hakuzōsu’s nephew, a fox hunter, tried to trap the fox, but the fox could also imitate the priest. Some sources claim Hakuzōsu was at Shōrin-ji much earlier, dating to the 14th century, though later documents are not always reliable. The Shōrin-ji story and its fox companion were repeated in various Edo-period travel guides.

A variant exists at Shōraku-ji in Ōmi Province (Shiga). This version also features Hakuzōsu and a small temple, and it is sometimes linked to the same broader legend.

In another well-known form, found in the Hyaku monogatari tradition, the setting moves to Kai Province. Here, a hunter named Yasaku traps foxes but learns that his “uncle” Hakuzōsu is really a fox. The fox preaches against killing animals to avoid bad karma, then steals traps for money and continues to impersonate the priest for many years. The tale ends when the fox is exposed and caught, or, in some variations, dies after a festival.

The Hakuzōsu story became a popular kyōgen play called Tsurigitsune (also Konkai, “The Cry of the Fox”). In that drama, a hunter is visited by his supposed uncle, the priest Hakuzōsu, who warns against fox-hunting. After the priest leaves, the hunter hears a fox’s cry and realizes the uncle was a fox in disguise. The fox is eventually trapped.

A common folkloric motif associated with Hakuzōsu is “The Fox Jeers at the Fox-Trap,” listed in motif catalogs as “Fox Disguised as Uncle,” showing how the tale fits the broader pattern of foxes taking human roles. Some well-known details, like the fox’s fondness for fried mouse, appear in the plays but not in the original legend texts.