Kitsune Dance

Last night I went to Wakamiya Inari Shrine for a festival. It was one of the most magical, amazing things I have seen in Japan. A few sixth grade boys and two men donned in fox costumes took turns climbing bamboo poles (which were about thirty feet high), did acrobats and tossed goodies to the audience cheering them from below.

The photos are poor because flashes were prohibited so as not to blind the already visually crippled foxes during their stunts.

The last fox to dole out his gifts ended by pulling a live chicken out of his shirt and threw it to the crowd below. He had a live chicken stuffed in his shirt the entire time he was swinging around up there. Amazing!