Yako (Field Fox)The Yako — Low Fox of the Kyushu Packs

This version turns to how the Yako was spoken of in the Buddhist world, and in Zen in particular. Zen has the term yako-zen, "wild-fox Zen." It is a word of admonition for a half-finished state in which one has not truly attained enlightenment yet believes oneself enlightened.

Its source is the famous tale "Hyakujō and the Wild Fox," recorded in the Song-dynasty Zen collection of dialogues, the Mumonkan^[1]. An old man came to listen each time the Tang Zen master Baizhang Huaihai (Hyakujō Ekai) preached. One day the old man revealed his story. Long ago, when he had been abbot of this very temple, he was asked whether one who has attained enlightenment still falls subject to cause and effect (karmic retribution), and he answered, "He does not fall (into cause and effect)." For that single mistaken word he had been cast into the body of a wild fox through five hundred rebirths. The old man begged Hyakujō for the correct answer. When Hyakujō rephrased it as "He does not obscure cause and effect," the old man was freed of his delusion on the spot, shed the wild-fox body, and attained buddhahood.

Here the wild fox becomes a symbol of admonition—the form into which one who has fallen into half-baked enlightenment is transformed. Quite apart from the village field fox that deceives people, the Yako has lived on at length within the language of Zen as well, as "where shallow cleverness ends up."

This yokai is included in the following collections:

Tales of the Fox

A curated look at fox yokai across Japan, from the Nine-Tailed Fox and Tamamo-no-Mae to rich local lore and uncanny kitsune tales.

テーマ別

狐の妖怪狐の伝説

百怪図巻｜佐脇嵩之が描いた30体の妖怪絵巻

佐脇嵩之『百怪図巻』（1737年）の収録妖怪30体、作品の特徴、鳥山石燕への図像的影響を所蔵館資料から紹介します。

カスタム

百怪図巻佐脇嵩之

Yokai with similar personality and characteristics to The Yako — Low Fox of the Kyushu Packs

Mujina

Traditional Tale Compliant – Trickster Mujina

92%

Compatibility

Kiri Ichibē

Traditional Lore Version

92%

Compatibility

Tamehachi Fox

Kitayama Village Tradition Version

92%

Compatibility

Yokai with opposite personality and characteristics to The Yako — Low Fox of the Kyushu Packs

Sokushinbutsu

Sokushinbutsu, the Living Buddha Enshrined in the Earth

53%

Compatibility

Amaterasu-Omikami

Supreme Deity of Takamagahara

57%

Compatibility

Iwanaga-hime

Iwanaga-hime, Goddess of Eternity, Steadfastness, and Matchmaking

59%

Compatibility