We reported last week that the demonic nine-tailed fox spirit had escaped the boulder in which it had been imprisoned. Reading up on this occurrence, I gained some education concerning Tamamo-no-Mae itself/herself. It’s a fascinating bit of folklore. (Folklore with a capital F if we’re talking about the subject as an area of study, which I frequently do.) Stories of Tamamo-no-Mae began appearing in Japan during the Muromachi period (1300s through 1500s AD), incorporating similar stories from foreign sources concerning fox-demon-women seducing or destroying heads of state. The best-known version of the tale posits that Tamamo-no-Mae made its/her first appearance in China, where it caused the collapse of the Shang dynasty, before traveling to India to wreak havoc, then returning to China, and from there on to Japan, where it/she took on the more recognizable form of Tamamo-no-Mae, a beautiful seductress who poisoned Toba, the 74th Emperor.
The Emperor survived the attempt on his life and sent hunters after Tamamo-no-Mae, but the fox demon took refuge in a boulder, the Sessho-seki. The rock that just split open.
If I were a high-ranking leader in Japan or China or India and I found myself approached by a beautiful, beguiling woman, I’d be extra careful. That might not be a woman at all. Just sayin’.
