Fox Fires on New Year’s Eve at the Farment Nettle Tree at Oji
-Hiroshige-
This print depicts a Japanese legend that at the Shinto Oji shrine, there is an old tree (the ‘Garment Nettle Tree’) at which all the trickster fox spirits (kitsune) of that province gather once a year at night, bearing torches to light their way; at the meeting they receive their orders for the up-coming year. Interestingly, one of the two trees can still be seen.
Happy New Year to everyone who read this :)