Kitsune statues

In many mythologies the foxes are considered supernatural beings, often having a trickster personality. In Japan, the foxes (kitsune in Japanese) are also considered messengers and servants of kami Inari, the Shinto god of rice.

This tradition may have come from the fact that the foxes are actually protecting the rice fields by eating the rodents. At the Inari shrines there are always two kitsune statues, guarding the entrance.