Your complete guide to living, working, and roleplaying within the Mugen Kuppuku Village.
🏮 I. Introduction
The following guide was prepared to assist anyone interested in the spiritual folklore of Mugen Kuppuku Island. It is a collection of events, legends, and historical accounts that have shaped the shrines and influenced the supernatural storyline. As players create new stories involving the shrines and the kami, they will be added here.
The entries below are arranged in chronological order to help players understand the ongoing spiritual developments on the island. The earliest stories begin with ancient legends passed down by villagers for generations.
🏮II. Origins of the Shrine Stories
The spiritual history of Mugen Kuppuku Island begins with a legend known by every villager. It tells of an old man, a lonely shrine, and three fox children sent by Inari. This story, along with its forgotten second half, forms the mythological foundation for the island’s three earliest kami: Yura of the Wind, Murakami of the Forest, and Yume of Dreams.
Below is the full story as handed down through folklore, testimony, and historical accounts.
Kitsune in Japanese Folklore
Kitsune is the Japanese word for fox. In Japanese folklore, foxes are intelligent, magical beings whose powers increase as they age. Their most famous ability is shapeshifting into human form.
While some tales portray kitsune as tricksters, others depict them as guardians, lovers, or faithful companions. Kitsune are closely associated with Inari, the Shinto kami of rice and prosperity, and serve as its messengers. Because of this sacred connection, many people honor kitsune with offerings at Inari shrines.
The Mid-Winter Legend of Mugen
Long ago, a man traveled across the seas of Japan in search of the perfect home. After much wandering, he discovered the island of Mugen. He built a house, tended fertile fields, fished the sea, and raised tea in the mountains. Though blessed with good fortune, he lived alone.
Following tradition, he constructed a shrine to Inari and offered the first rice of each harvest. One night, after praying earnestly for a wife, he dreamed of a beautiful woman cloaked in red fur who made love to him. In that dream, she bore him two sons and a daughter before vanishing into the mountains.
Though it was only a dream, he often caught himself imagining the lives of those dream-children.
Years passed. Winter came.
One night the man heard a strange sound at his gate. Outside sat a basket holding three fox cubs—two males and one female. Recognizing the blessing, he thanked Inari and raised them as his own.
As time passed:
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The male kitsune took the human form of strong young men who worked the fields and hunted game.
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The female kitsune wove cloth, grew flowers, and cared for their home.
The man lived out his days surrounded by love, companionship, and prosperity.
When he passed, the kitsune honored Inari and celebrated their father’s long, joyful life. Each year, on the anniversary of their arrival, they lit lamps and offered rice cakes at Inari’s mountain shrine.
Even today, during mid-winter, villagers light lanterns in remembrance. Legend says all kitsune on the island revert to fox form and gather at the place where the old man discovered them—somewhere between a waterfall and the sea, though its exact location has long been lost.
“A painting of the gathering of Kitsune to celebrate the old man's life on Mugen.”
Note: This painting is actually "Fox Fires on New Year's Eve at the Garment Nettle Tree at Oji", a woodblock print by Hiroshige.
It depicts a Japanese legend in which all kitsune gather once a year at night with torches to receive their orders for the coming year.
The Forgotten Brother: Yume of Dreams
The shrine origin story taught to most villagers ends with the old man and his three kitsune children. But this is only half the tale.
Local lore reveals that the kitsune siblings—Yura, Murakami, and Yume—were half-human, half-kami, born from the union between their fox mother and the mortal man she loved.
Yura-sama and Murakami-sama grew into beloved guardians of the island.
But Yume-sama, the third sibling, walked a darker path.
When their human father died, Yume-sama begged Inari to restore his life. Inari refused, teaching that mortals must remain mortal, and that death is part of the natural order.
Unable to accept this, Yume-sama rejected Inari’s teachings and grew resentful of his siblings, who continued to serve the kami faithfully.
In time, he isolated himself deep within the forest, where his grief twisted into bitterness. That bitterness transformed him into a nogitsune—a wild fox spirit known for causing misfortune.
The Destruction of the Old Shrines
Yume-sama’s malice spread across the island:
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He deceived Murakami-sama into chasing a distant star that she believed was a kami seeking to wed her. She left her shrine and was never seen again.
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He poisoned the minds of villagers against Yura-sama, blaming him for crop failures and disasters. Yura’s shrine was abandoned and vandalized. Yura eventually fled the island.
Yume-sama then took advantage of the empty forest shrine and established himself as a false kami, accepting offerings and growing in strength.
The miko who tended Murakami’s shrine suffered greatly under his influence. Even students at the local academy unknowingly empowered him.
The shrine became a site of corruption, and the island was overwhelmed by negative spiritual energy.
The truth was uncovered only when a visiting member of the royal family recognized the false kami. He rescued the miko and the students and warned the proper authorities, who cleansed the shrine and banished the nogitsune.
But it was too late for Yura and Murakami.
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Yura, stripped of worship, nearly faded from existence.
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Murakami remained lost to the cosmos.
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The island, spiritually shattered, fell into disarray.
During this dark era, many villagers even joined the Yamata out of fear, anger, or hopelessness.
🏮III. The Disappearance and Restoration of the Kami
With the original kami gone and the false kami purged, the shrines of Murakami-sama and Yura-sama stood empty and lifeless. Mugen Kuppuku Island was left without guardians, and the villagers feared further calamity.
Their prayers, however, were answered.
The royal family in Tokyo intervened. They personally delivered two young kami to restore balance to the island:
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Tai-sama, messenger of Amaterasu — enshrined at the Inari Shrine.
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Yuugao, messenger of Tsukuyomi — enshrined deeper in the mountains at Murakami’s former shrine.
To honor this change, Murakami’s shrine was renamed the Tsukuyomi Shrine.
At the royal family’s request, a third small shrine was built in the village as a beacon for missing spirits. Some villagers use it to honor the absent Yura-sama, though his current state remains unknown.
Tai-sama and Yuugao are still very young and inexperienced. The island’s onmyouji now work to protect them, guide them, and help them grow strong enough to defend Mugen Kuppuku from future spiritual threats.
🏮IV. Working at the Shrines
For players interested in shrine duties or spiritual RP, please refer to the following pages: