Foxfire and New Year's Eve

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Foxfire and New Year's Eve

Shozokuenoki Tree at Oji: Fox–fires on New Years Eve by Utagawa Hiroshige

Bioluminescence is mysterious stuff. In Europe and North America, we call it 'foxfire'. Surprisingly, in Japan, it is also associated with foxes. The Metropolitan Museum, which owns this painting by Utagawa Hiroshige, has this explanation:

Foxes gather at the large, old enoki (hackberry) tree on New Year's Eve to prepare to pay homage at the Oji Inari shrine, the headquarters of the Inari cult in eastern Japan (Kanto). The cult centers on the god of the rice field, for whom the fox serves as messenger. On the way to Oji, the foxes have set a number of kitsunebi (foxfires), which farmers count to predict the upcoming rice harvest.
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Dmitri Gheorgheni

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