Fox spirits arrived in Japan in the late seventh century. Foxes are in many cultures associated with slyness, but in Japan they have something more. You'll find information on foxes, fox mythology, and particularly Japanese fox mythology here.
Oinari, Fox Spirit, God of Japan, Photo Dictionary of Japanese Buddhist & Shinto Deieties * Inari (mythology) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia * Kitsune Lore * Ashkenazy, Michael. ( santagor / Adobe) Please note, that my area of expertise is Japan so I will only briefly touch on Korea and China because I don’t want to give any misinformation and there is so much lore to go through in each country that I couldn’t possibly cover them all in one article. One of the most infamous fox spirits in Chinese mythology was Daji (妲己), who is portrayed in the Ming shenmo novel Fengshen Yanyi. In Japanese mythology, the Nine-Tailed Fox, or kyubi, is a mischievous spirit with the power to shapeshift into beautiful women. In mythology, the fox usually has a positive connotation. "The fox spirit is an especially prolific shapeshifter, known variously as the húli jīng (fox spirit) in China, the kitsune (fox) in Japan, the hồ ly tinh (fox spirit) in Vietnam, and the kumiho (nine-tailed fox) in Korea. Published in 1961 by the Hokuseido Press, it is now long out of print and very hard to obtain copies of. In Chinese, Japanese, and Korean folklores, foxes (huli jing in China, kitsune in Japan, and kumiho in Korea) are powerful spirits that are known for their highly mischievous and cunning nature, and they often take on the form of female humans to seduce men. Anders als der mächtige Drache, beginnt der Phönix sein Leben als einfacher Vogel und verwandelt sich erst bei seiner Wiedergeburt aus seiner Asche in ein höheres Wesen. Closely associated with various Shinto deities of food, Inari can be depicted in either male or female form.
Kitsune (japanisch 狐 Aussprache? Originating in Chinese myths dating back centuries before being introduced to Korean mythology, the Korean kumiho shares many similarities to the Chinese huli jing and the Japanese kitsune.