Inari and Dakiniten

Inari (稲荷) is the kami of rice, harvest and, by extension, prosperity in business. With tens of thousands of shrines, Inari may be the most widely worshipped deity in Japan. In the Buddhist world, the same cult is honoured through Dakiniten (荼柃尼天), a goddess who rides a white fox. The fox, messenger of Inari, unites the two traditions.

Japanese 稲荷, Inari; 荼柃尼天, Dakiniten
Origin Japanese kami; Dakiniten from the Indian ḍākinī
Recognise by Fox figures with a key, jewel, scroll or rice sheaf in the mouth; Dakiniten as a lady riding a white fox, holding a jewel
Head shrines Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto; Toyokawa Inari, a Zen temple

The fox messengers

Fox statues, kitsune, guard every Inari shrine in pairs. One usually holds a jewel and the other a key to the rice granary, or a scroll of wisdom or a sheaf of rice. At Fushimi Inari Taisha, the head shrine, thousands of vermilion gates donated by businesses climb the sacred mountain. Foxes are messengers, not Inari himself, though popular belief often merges them.

Dakiniten

The Indian ḍākinī were fearsome spirits; in esoteric Buddhism they were converted into protectors. In Japan, Dakiniten was shown as a graceful goddess riding a white fox through the sky, holding a wish-granting jewel and sometimes a sword. The Sōtō Zen temple of Myōgonji in Toyokawa, popularly called Toyokawa Inari, enshrines her as its guardian, and its branch in Akasaka, Tokyo, is visited by actors and business people.

Collecting notes

  • Fox figures in stone, ceramic, wood and bronze are popular with collectors of shrine art and folk art. Paired foxes with matching attributes are best.
  • Dakiniten images in portable shrines, and painted scrolls of the goddess on her fox, are a specialist and rewarding field.

In the collection

Search the collection for fox figures and browse portable shrines. Our collector concierge can search Japan for Inari and Dakiniten pieces.

See also

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