Bucket Hat 'Nine-Tailed Fox' - キツネ

A nine-tailed fox, embroidered with its tails fanned The kyūbi no kitsune (九尾の狐, the nine-tailed fox) is among the most powerful and most feared yōkai in East Asian folklore. Japanese mythology, inheriting the Chinese huli jing tradition, holds that a fox gains a tail for every century it lives. A nine-tailed fox has therefore lived nine hundred years, and the powers that come with that age are considerable: transformation into human form, usually a beautiful young woman; command of illusion; control over natural elements; and the ability to read a mind. The legend of Tamamo no Mae is the most famous Japanese telling. According to the Heian-period chronicles, the emperor Toba (1107–1123) was bewitched by a mysterious consort of unnatural beauty. The onmyōji Abe no Yasuchika finally exposed her as a malevolent nine-tailed fox, driving the creature to flee to the plains of Nasu, where she was killed and turned into the Sesshō-seki, the killing stone. That stone exists — it sits in Nasu, in Tochigi Prefecture, and it split in two in 2022, which made the news worldwide. The embroidery gives the creature movement: the elongated cream-white body of the fox surrounded by nine tails fanned outward, alternating white and orange-red so the whole figure appears to rotate. The eyes are stitched red, which is what marks it as supernatural rather than animal. The design belongs to the contemporary graphic register that games and animation have built around the nine-tailed fox over the last two decades. The mid-profile bucket shape amplifies the effect: cream body, orange-red tails, red eyes. Wear it with a dark haori, a plain oversized sweatshirt and cargo trousers, or with a graphic tee, straight jeans and chunky sneakers. Made for people who read Japanese mythology properly, who came to it through games or animation, and who want a yōkai that carries its history. 98% cotton, 2% elastane Mid profile, 7.5 cm (3 in) brim One size: 54.9-60 cm (21.6-23.6 in) Soft inner lining Flat seams and clean finishing