ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the general problem in Japan’s history of religion as far as it appears in the figure of Inari, who is believed to have adopted not only many shintai, but also many other divinities: a Shinto goddess, ancestor gods, the heavenly fox, the Hindu Dakini, and combined forms of these divinities. It presents some aspects of the cult at the Fushimi Inari of Kyoto. The Fushimi Inari shrines of Kyoto being the first Inari shrines to be erected in Japan, are of nationwide importance: they named and framed all the other Inari shrines of the country. The chapter discusses the demoniacal forms of foxes in Japan which coexist with the sacred white foxes of Inari. It discusses some archeological and anthropological viewpoints concerning this deity. The chapter looks at the Buddhist stage of the metamorphosis of Uka no mitama.
