Kitsune

Kitsune is the Japanese word for fox, which as we all know, is "a common subject of Japanese folklore."

Depictions of kitsune or their possessed victims may feature round or onion-shaped white balls known as hoshi no tama (star balls). Tales describe these as glowing with kitsune-bi, or fox-fire. Some stories identify them as magical jewels or pearls. When not in human form or possessing a human, a kitsune keeps the ball in its mouth or carries it on its tail.

Of course, I didn’t know any of this when I took the photo.

Photo: Kitsune—Japan, 1966