But there are some very pleasing forms of the Fox-God.
For example, there stands in a very obscure street of Matsue--one of
those streets no stranger is likely to enter unless he loses his way--a
temple called Jigyoba-no-Inari, [16] and also Kodomo-no-Inari, or 'the
Children's Inari.' It is very small, but very famous; and it has been
recently presented with a pair of new stone foxes, very large, which
have gilded teeth and a peculiarly playful expression of countenance.
These sit one on each side of the gate: the Male grinning with open
jaws, the Female demure, with mouth closed. [17] In the court you will
find many ancient little foxes with noses, heads, or tails broken, two
great Karashishi before which straw sandals (waraji) have been suspended
as votive offerings by somebody with sore feet who has prayed to the
Karashishi-Sama that they will heal his affliction, and a shrine of
Kojin, occupied by the corpses of many children's dolls. [18]
The grated doors of the shrine of Jigyoba-no-Inari, like those of the
shrine of Yaegaki, are white with the multitude of little papers tied
to them, which papers signify prayers. But the prayers are special and
curious. To right and to left of the doors, and also above them, odd
little votive pictures are pasted upon the walls, mostly representing
children in bath-tubs, or children getting their heads shaved. There are
also one or two representing children at play. Now the interpretation of
these signs and wonders is as follows:
Doubtless you know that Japanese children, as well as Japanese adults,
must take a hot bath every day; also that it is the custom to shave the
heads of very small boys and girls. But in spite of hereditary patience
and strong ancestral tendency to follow ancient custom, young children
find both the razor and the hot bath difficult to endure, with their
delicate skins. For the Japanese hot bath is very hot (not less than
110 degs F., as a general rule), and even the adult foreigner must
learn slowly to bear it, and to appreciate its hygienic value. Also, the
Japanese razor is a much less perfect instrument than ours, and is used
without any lather, and is apt to hurt a little unless used by the most
skilful hands. And finally, Japanese parents are not tyrannical with
their children: they pet and coax, very rarely compel or terrify. So
that it is quite a dilemma for them when the baby revolts against the
bath or mutinies against the razor.
The parents of the child who refuses to be shaved or bathed have
recourse to Jigyoba-no-Inati. The god is besought to send one of his
retainers to amuse the child, and reconcile it to the new order of
things, and render it both docile and happy. Also if a child is naughty,
or falls sick, this Inari is appealed to. If the prayer be granted, some
small present is made to the temple--sometimes a votive picture, such
as those pasted by the door, representing the successful result of the
petition. To judge by the number of such pictures, and by the prosperity
of the temple, the Kodomo-no-Inani would seem to deserve his popularity.
Even during the few minutes I passed in his court I saw three young
mothers, with infants at their backs, come to the shrine and pray
and make offerings. I noticed that one of the children--remarkably
pretty--had never been shaved at all. This was evidently a very
obstinate case.
While returning from my visit to the Jigyoba Inani, my Japanese servant,
who had guided me there, told me this story:
The son of his next-door neighbour, a boy of seven, went out to play
one morning, and disappeared for two days. The parents were not at first
uneasy, supposing that the child had gone to the house of a relative,
where he was accustomed to pass a day or two from time to time. But on
the evening of the second day it was learned that the child had not been
at the house in question. Search was at once made; but neither search
nor inquiry availed. Late at night, however, a knock was heard at the
door of the boy's dwelling, and the mother, hurrying out, found her
truant fast asleep on the ground. She could not discover who had
knocked. The boy, upon being awakened, laughed, and said that on the
morning of his disappearance he had met a lad of about his own age, with
very pretty eyes, who had coaxed him away to the woods, where they had
played together all day and night and the next day at very curious funny
games. But at last he got sleepy, and his comrade took him home. He was
not hungry. The comrade promised 'to come to-morrow.'
But the mysterious comrade never came; and no boy of the description
given lived in the neighbourhood. The inference was that the comrade was
a fox who wanted to have a little fun. The subject of the fun mourned
long in vain for his merry companion.