Kuzunoha: writing a farewell poem to her child

Kuzunoha is a magical white fox (kitsune) who has taken human form. When still a fox, she was trapped by a hunter and set free by a young man. She fell in love with her saviour, Abe no Yasuna, and transformed to be with him. When their son was small, he noticed his mother’s tufts of tail. As a result, she was obliged to return to life as a fox. Kuzunoha held the boy close and wrote her farewell poem with a brush in her mouth. It says, ‘If you love me, try to come and visit me’ (aishikuba tazune kite miyo). Her husband and son visit her in the forest where she appears to them in fox form but never returns to her human life.

Kuzunoha's upturned eyes and the unusual striped pattern within them indicate her kitsune heritage. The mounting of the painting similaly features a bamboo grove pattern in reference to the home of the kitsune.