The Great Celebration of the White Fox

Once upon a time, in the small village of Nagaikawa, located in Oita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, there lived an old woman. Her name was O-Tsune-san. She had a great passion for festivals and performances.

One day, her relatives invited her to a festival in their village. O-Tsune-san was delighted and began preparing for the journey. The path was not short: it led through a mountain pass to the coast of Matama. O-Tsune-san enjoyed the festival immensely, and the guests celebrated until late in the evening.

When the old woman began to prepare for her return journey, her relatives tried to persuade her:

"Don't go, stay the night, and you can leave in the morning. It's late. By the time you reach the pass, it will be completely dark. It's scary on the pass at night."

"Nonsense!" replied O-Tsune-san. "I know the forest path well. And tonight is a moonlit night, nothing will happen to me!"

With that, she set off. The mountain road was steep, winding ever upward.

Finally, the old woman reached Shiromaru Pass. By then, the day had completely faded. Just as she sat down to rest, she heard the sound of festive drums beating nearby.

"What could that be?" wondered O-Tsune-san. "The festival in Matama ended long ago. Maybe they built a new shrine here on the pass, and I didn't know about it?"

Her heart began to race—it felt like it might leap out of her chest! O-Tsune-san jumped up and ran down the path. Suddenly, she saw people coming toward her, cheerful and dressed in fine clothes, holding paper lanterns.

"Tell me, where are you going?" the old woman asked. "Is there a festival nearby?"

"Don't you know, grandmother?" the people replied in surprise. "There's a big performance on the pass tonight. Come with us!"

O-Tsune-san went with them. They approached a small house. She peeked inside—it was just like a theater. A performance was underway, depicting a loyal servant committing seppuku.

Soon, it was time for intermission. The guests were treated to boiled rice and sweet cakes. Then the performance resumed. A very sad story was shown to the audience—about how a white fox saved a samurai warrior and later appeared to him in the form of a beautiful maiden. The samurai and the fox-girl married and had a son. But the fox could not stay with humans forever. The time came for her to return to the forest. And then she sang a song of parting, a sorrowful—oh, so sorrowful—song.

The audience wept upon hearing the song. O-Tsune-san cried too, tears streaming down her face. The performance had deeply moved her.

"Imagine that," she marveled, "such wonders shown in this remote mountain area! I must run back to the village and tell everyone about it!"

The old woman rushed home to Nagaikawa as fast as she could. When she arrived, she immediately told her daughter about what she had seen on the pass. Her daughter listened and then burst out laughing:

"Where did you see this performance? On Shiromaru Pass? There was nothing there. It was just the White Beauty playing a trick on you, fooling you! And they didn't serve you rice or sweets, but horse and cow dung."

"Who is the White Beauty?" asked O-Tsune-san, surprised.

"That's what they call the fox that lives on our pass. There are three of them in the area: the White Beauty, the Fire Beauty, and the Cat Princess. That's what people call them."

"That can't be!" exclaimed O-Tsune-san. "I saw it with my own eyes!"

She refused to believe her daughter. She waited until evening and set off for Shiromaru Pass again. She walked along the path, the moon lighting her way. But soon it became completely dark. O-Tsune-san lit a paper lantern and looked around—there was no sign of the house where she had watched the performance, nor any trace of the previous night's festivities.

The old woman hid behind a tree and waited. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a white fox appeared and transformed into a beautiful girl. O-Tsune-san watched from behind the tree, wide-eyed. She completely forgot she was standing in a dark forest with a shapeshifter nearby.

But the fox paid no attention to O-Tsune-san. This time, she had no intention of feeding the old woman horse and cow dung! The white fox was waiting for her fox friends to arrive so they could throw a big celebration and revel until morning.

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The Great Celebration of the White Fox

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