With the figure of fox as the emblematic emissary, Inari—arguably the most popular Shinto deity in Japan—is often deemed polytheistic due to its diverse blessings, whether agricultural, commercial, or industrial, or all of these at once. In the common historical account, Inari worship began as an agricultural ritual and, affected by the soaring monetary economy from the seventeenth century onward, it attained other predicates. Through two main studies on Inari shrines, this dissertation refutes that limited narrative and demonstrates that the agricultural attribute was in turn accentuated with the monetary economy. One study revolves around the Mimeguri Shrine, enshrined in Tokyo at the turn of the eighteenth century by the magnate Mitsui family for their commerce. The other study deciphers the concatenation of the Coal Mountain Tutelary Shrine and Tōka Shrine, originally established in the late eighteenth century by the local feudal administration, Miike-han, for their coal production in the current Fukuoka prefecture. With these shrines, the respective commercial and coal enterprises were rendered agricultural as though contained within the dominant Tokugawa order, which idealized the rice-based economy. Nurturing in effect the profit of the Mitsui family and the extra revenue of Mike-han—constituting a surplus, as this dissertation argues—the Inari worships of the merchant and the regional administration produced labor times. The presence of those shrines in this study serves as the metonymy of a contradictory process whereby even a deity was “alienated” under the command of money as if were fooled by its own emissary, the fox.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Faculty of the Divinity School, June 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

As the deities known as Inari, foxes are vital to the religious and cultural landscape of Japan. Inari are given little consideration in the academic study of Japanese religions in English, despite their overwhelming presence and popularity in Japan. This is, in large part, due to the privileging of a Protestant definition of religion in the academic study of religion. Animating Inari addresses this lack of consideration by seeking to better understand Inari in Japan, particularly through the contexts of contemporary Shintō and popular worship (which are also severely underrepresented in scholarship). In order to explore Inari on the ground, this project is situated in the context of Fushimi Inari Taisha, the headquarters of Inari worship located in Kyoto. This project investigates the anime (animated television series), Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha (or Inakon), which depicts Fushimi Inari Taisha through the life of a young girl, named Inari, and her relationship with the deity, known as Uka. In conjunction with my own experience at this shrine, I use Inakon as a tool with which to consider the popular aspects of Shintō, particularly as visible through Inari worship. By examining Inari worship, the characters and themes of Inakon, and the presence of fox characters in other Japanese popular media, it is apparent that Inari’s popularity is in large part due to the warm relationships they have with Japanese people and how they respond to their everyday concerns. This is in direct contrast to the more nationalistic leanings of the Jinja Honchō (National Association of Shintō Shrines), which is too often privileged in the academic study of Shintō at the expense of popular worship. Inari reflect the more popular concerns of contemporary Shintō: the connections and intimate bonds that exist between people, as well as the deities. By highlighting the functions of and attitudes towards Inari, especially in contrast to Jinja Honchō, it becomes clear that Inari resonate with Japanese on a profound level.