In the Emperor Kimmei's reign (540-571) a man from Ono district, Mino province, went out to look for a good wife. After a long time he met in the field a beautiful woman, of whom he asked: "Will you become my wife?" She consented; whereupon he took her with him to his house and married her. After a while she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. At that time there was a puppy in the house, which always barked at its mistress. She beseeched her husband to kill the beast, because she was very much afraid of it, but he did not do so, although he loved her greatly. Once on a certain day the dog made as if it would bite her, but withdrew barking. Suddenly the frightened woman changed into a fox (yakan), which climbed upon the fence and sat there, while the husband, looking at the transformed wife, said: "Between you and me a child has been born, therefore I cannot forget you. Come always and sleep with me." She acted in accordance with her husband's words and came to sleep with him. For this reason she was called Ki-tsune. She wore at that time a scarlet-painted dress. Her child was called Ki-tsu-ne. He grew to be a very strong man and could run as fastly as a bird can fly.

Marinus Willem de Visser "The Fox and Badger in Japanese Folklore" (864: p.20-21)