yokai compendium: 命婦 —「myōbu」

let's start with a fox spirit. i sure could have picked a simple one, such as bakeneko or kitsune (yokais that are probably already known to the western culture), but i think myōbu is a yokai that some people do not know so well— or that's what i think at least.

let me tell you one thing: there are so many yokai in japanese folklore and i do not know all of them or have not gathered a lot of information as of how many actually exist. if it comes to "fox-type" yokai, i could roughly count twenty, perhaps there's even more.

although when people think about fox-type yokai, their mind automatically stops at kitsune, who is also known as the legendary nine-tailed fox (also known as kyubi). however, i will talk about kitsune in a future post since its origin is actually versatile in east asian culture overall (not only japan).
now that this is settled, let me finally tell you about myōbu.

its title could be translated as "a high ranking title for court ladies" and that is what myōbu literally means. it has however an alternate name known as byakko, perhaps this one may or may not ring a bell to you. byakko means "white fox", and yes, byakko is yet another spirit (a "shijin") in folklore but originated in china. we may talk about byakko in another time.

their habitats are shrines and places sacred to inari, the japanese kami of foxes, of fertility, rice, tea and sake, of agriculture and industry, of general prosperity and worldly success, and one of the principal kami of shinto. inari could also originate from mount inari in kyoto, by the way, the location of fushimi inari-taisha (fushimi inari shrine). 

myōbu are celestial fox spirits with white fur and full, fluffy tails. known as holy creatures, they bring happiness and blessing to those around them. myōbu are mainly statues found in the so-called inari shrines and are said to act as guardians and bringers of good luck and blessing. people would stop by to these statues to bring sake, sekihan (red rice and red beans), inarizushi and fried tofu at these shrines, as it's said that those are the foxes favorite foods. 

the statues display a fox carrying an object, which could be a jewel, spiritual key, scrolls and sheaves of grain. depending on what object, it obviously means something else based upon the inari, like the key could represent the resemblance of a key used for traditional storehouses. the scroll represents knowledge and wisdom, the jewel is meant to represent the soul of the inari. finally, the sheaves of grain are supposed to represent the five grains (wheat, rice, beans, awa millet, and kibi millet).

as of now, this is all i have to offer from myōbu. as its mainly used as a guardian, i thought it would be a good start until i'd work on a much more popular one.

have a nice day.