Fox Tales

 I was reading a Wikipedia article a moment ago, and I recognized the author they were quoting. I skipped down, and as it turns out I've read the paper they are citing.

Yeah, that happens. Although to be honest, every in-depth article I've read on Ninja cites Turnbull -- but the book I read of his is only a few years old and hasn't quite made it into the citations of most.

I'm finally up to Fushimi Inari Taisha, the shrine that will adorn the cover of the book (once I've finally finished writing it) and where I've been (except I don't remember enough and I didn't understand nearly enough at the time.)

Which is a bit of a problem. I'm trying to keep the story within a limited zone of what is a complete nation, society, history and language. So I've made as little mention as possible of anime, manga, giant robots, Hello Kitty (which was actually an import), World War II...

(The last is because, despite there being so much story potential, and despite that being the one part of Japanese history I actually spent any time studying before I attempted this novel, I just did a World War II story and I need Penny to explore some other areas of history).

But by the time you combine the inner and the outer plot, the actual "thing being done by the bad guys" and the "psychological things going on with the protagonist", I'm left with trying to explain to the reader:

New Religions, especially in a Japanese (aka Shintoism and Buddhism) context.

Kitsune and their legends.

The Imperial Regalia of Japan, with reference to the legends in the Kojiki et al, particularly Amaterasu and the Cave.

Honnae and Tatemae. Plus a bit about the rapid social changes of post-war Japan, including the Asset Price Bubble Collapse which is important in the history of several of the characters.

And these do cluster around a few basic areas. Around Shinto, and around social role-playing. The Kitsune is a messenger of an important Shinto deity, and is also a shape-shifter.

And basically, there is such an incredible wealth in the connections between Kitsune, tatemae, Inari, and even wealth distribution (no, really!) that I have no idea how I am going to get any of it in at all. And I am frightened that even the little bit I allow myself is still going to be too much for the reader.

Well, one bit seemed to work. The actual Miho Museum has some Chinese poem built into the design of the garden (I can't remember the details at the moment). I repurposed that idea to allow Penny to more-or-less "walk through" the story of Amaterasu and the Cave as she enters the museum. (I did think there was going to be more to it -- I really wanted to work in the 8-tailed monster and all that -- but oh well).

Which is why Penny is visiting Fushimi Inari in the present scene. I'm about to drop a Shinto Priest or lay worker on her to explain a bit about Inari. But someone else is going to have to explain about those damned foxes...