White fox 2

"White fox 2" depicts a kitsune, the white fox of Japanese folklore associated with the Shinto deity Inari and with broader supernatural mythology. The "2" designates this print as a second composition in a sequence treating the same subject. Mokuhanga is well suited to rendering the fox's white coat, since the unprinted [washi](/glossary/washi) paper itself can provide the highlight while subtle pigment is applied through partial blocks to model fur, shadow, and the gradations of an animal's body in light. The composition likely places the fox against a contrasting ground—perhaps snow, dark foliage, or the architectural elements of an Inari shrine, where stone fox guardians flank the entrances. Okamoto's animal subjects extend the careful naturalism of his botanical work into zoological observation while drawing on the symbolic charge that the white fox carries in Japanese culture. The print sits adjacent to the [kacho-e](/glossary/kacho-e) (bird-and-flower) tradition's broader category of animal imagery.