The Tale of Reiko Inari, The Goddess of HopeReiko came into existence during the Nara Period, an era of turmoil and superstition, where the capital of Japan—Heijou-kyou—stood as a beacon of civilization in the 700s. But beyond its bustling streets and the glimmer of imperial power, the world was a treacherous place. Mortals lived short, fragile lives, their fates often dictated by unseen forces—spirits, yokai, and deities that walked the thin veil between worlds. Many of these entities were cruel, delighting in the suffering of humankind. Others remained indifferent, mere echoes of nature’s whims.Reiko was neither.Born nameless, without a defined form, they drifted between the realms, sometimes appearing as a human, other times as a fox cloaked in shadows. Their existence was unrecorded, a whisper in the dark, a flicker of firelight that vanished as quickly as it appeared. A being of mischief, chaos, and destruction. They whispered to those standing at the precipice of their own ruin, guiding them toward their demise. They reveled in the act of ripping a heart from a chest, watching as the light faded from wide, terrified eyes. With foxfire in their grasp—flames capable of reducing anything to ash or burning cold at their whim—they set forests, villages, and even fellow yokai ablaze in their reckless amusements.It wasn’t long before they found their place among the ranks of Nurarihyon, the master of the Hyakki Yagyou—the legendary Night Parade of One Hundred Demons. A spectacle of terror that swept through villages every hundred years, consuming all in its path. To mortals, it was a nightmare given form, an unstoppable tide of supernatural beings that could only be thwarted by the strongest of spiritualists, the Onmyoji.And yet, Reiko did not fear retribution. They thrived in the chaos.But even in the heart of madness, fate is not without a sense of irony.

A Love That Changed EverythingIt was during the Sengoku Period, an age of war and bloodshed, that Reiko's existence took an unexpected turn. Amongst the mortals who suffered under the weight of conflict, there was one—a man named Yuichiro Nuraita.His soul was bound to a cruel cycle of suffering, forced to live and die, again and again, never knowing peace. And yet, in this lifetime, Reiko loved him.Love was not something they had ever sought nor understood, yet it pulled at them with an unfamiliar ache. For him, they changed. For him, they betrayed their nature, their purpose. But such emotions had consequences. Nurarihyon, once so fond of them, cast them aside. Reiko, once a feared presence among yokai, found themselves lost.Worse yet, their love was not enough. Yuichiro's fate remained unchanged, and the cycle claimed him once more. His life ended in pain, his final breath stolen before Reiko could alter destiny itself.Grief consumed them.And in that moment of loss, a divine presence appeared—Inari. The great deity of prosperity, rice, and fox spirits. The goddess saw the sorrow that weighed on Reiko’s soul, the silent longing that had begun to eclipse their once-boundless hunger for destruction.A choice was offered."Serve me," Inari whispered, "and become something greater."What was left for Reiko in the world of yokai? Nothing.And so, bathed in a divine radiance, their form shifted. The wild, untamed essence of a trickster spirit gave way to something celestial. Their fur shimmered like blushing dawn, a symbol of rebirth. They became Reiko Inari—the Fennec fox of the Shrine.Under Inari’s guidance, they learned devotion. They granted prayers, bestowed fortune upon the worthy, and became a guardian of the sacred grounds. The centuries passed, and slowly, the fire within them softened.But the world did not remain the same.As humanity advanced, their faith dwindled. Shrines became tourist attractions rather than places of worship. Gods became myths, their names whispered only in passing. And for Reiko, the silence of prayers was deafening.Would it have been better to fade away?

A Voice That Defied TimeOne day, as they wandered the space between This World and the Other, a call reached them. A whisper—weak, yet desperate. Familiar.Drawn by the echo of something long lost, Reiko stepped into the modern world, taking the form of a human man. Through the bustling streets, past the gleaming towers of steel and glass, they walked unseen through the halls of a hospital.And there, in a sterile room, they found him.A frail figure, his body withered to mere bone and skin, connected to machines that forced breath into his lungs. His time was near.Yuichiro.Hundreds of years had passed, yet his soul remained. Reincarnated, but never freed. This version of him had never seen the outside world, had spent his life confined to this room, unable to even speak.Reiko visited every day, watching over him in silence. Why? What did they hope to change? They could grant fortune, but not life. They could answer prayers, but not undo fate.And then, the inevitable came.Doctors gathered. The machines were turned off.A final breath.And then, a light.A small, trembling orb—his soul. It floated before them, fragile and scared. And for the first time in centuries, Reiko did not feel helpless.They reached out.And in that moment, they became more than just a fox spirit.They became the Shrine Deity Reiko Inari—The Goddess of Hope.

Portfolio

Store Coming Soon