Kitsune no yomeiri

The Kitsune no Yomeiri (狐の嫁入り, "the fox's wedding"), which is similar to "monkey's wedding" in English, is a strange event told about in Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. The "kitsune no yomeiri" can refer to several things: atmospheric ghost lights, a phenomenon during which it appears as if paper lanterns from a wedding procession are floating through the dark; what is commonly referred to as a sunshower; and various strange wedding processions that can be seen in classical Japanese kaidan, essays, and legends. The "kitsune no yomeiri" is always closely related to foxes, or kitsune (who often play tricks on humans in Japanese legend) and various Shinto rituals and festive rights relating to the "kitsune no yomeiri" have been developed in various parts of Japan.

A topography book of the Echigo province (now Niigata Prefecture), from the Hōreki period, the "Echigo Nayose" (越後名寄), includes the following statement about the appearance of the "kitsune no yomeiri":

At whatever time at night, whatever place, on occasions when it becomes extraordinarily quiet, flames like paper lanterns or torches can be seen usually continuing far into the distance, far surpassing even one ri. They are quite rare in all places, but they appear occasionally in the Kanbara district. This is said to be the wedding of young foxes. (Yoru itsu izuko tomo iu koto naku, wori shizuka naru yoru ni, chōchin arui ha taimatsu no gotoku naru hi, oyoso ichiri-yo mo manaku tsuzukite wochikata ni miyuru koto ari. Migi, izure no tokoro nite mo mare ni ari to ihedomo, Kanbara-gun chū ni ha worifushi kore ari. Kore wo jidō-bara "kitsune no kon" to ihinarahaseri.)

In here, lines of atmospheric ghost lights that stretch close to 4 kilometers are called "kitsune no kon," and also in Nakakubiki District, Niigata Prefecture, and Uonuma of the same prefecture, the Akita Prefecture,Sakuragawa, Ibaraki Prefecture,Nanakai, Nishiibaraki District of the same prefecture (now Shirosato), Hitachiōta of the same prefecture,Koshigaya, Saitama Prefecture, Higashichichibu of the same prefecture, the Tama area of Tokyo, the Gunma Prefecture, the ,Mukawa, Hokuto, Yamanashi Prefecture, the Mie Prefecture,Kashihara, Nara Prefecture, and Nanbu, Saihaku District, Tottori Prefecture, among other places, when atmospheric ghost lights (kitsunebi) are seen in the countryside at night, it is called "kitsune no yomeiri."

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