Christopher Kincaid

Before you rush to get this book, know that this book doesn't pass the academic test. While is clear that the author was very passionate about the subject his sources are often more than 60 years old. He has missed important sources, He lacks knowledge of Japanese and Chinese sources. So this book is a bit of a mixed bag.

This being said I have to thank the author for making me understanding something I was scratching my head on:
Why people are hell bent on killing kitsunes in some stories.
While someone living in feudal japan would immediately know why, exactly like a greek would have understood why amazons were bad, to us that is mostly lost.
The reason is because the Kitsunes embodied multiple taboo and fears all crammed into one entity. They were intelligent, cunning and smart women who were often indipedent. Add to this the fact that most Kitsunes also were indipedent and better than their human husbands and you get the picture why they were considered so much dangerous. For a man to be less intelligent than a woman was considered a grave insult.

Also, I never realized how shitty feudal japan was for women. It's completely dystopic and horrifying.
The author also explained the often missed practical reason why "magical owning fox families" were excluded from villages: to preserve the secular hierarchy of the village. Althought I feel like in most cases this practical reason was forgotten in favor of hysteria and panic, followed by brutal killing, of the "possesed and fox owning families".… (más)