Foxes gather under a tall, mostly leafless hackberry tree on New Year's Eve; from here, they will make their annual pilgrimage to the Oji Inari Shrine. In the shadowy fields beyond, more foxes have gathered, and a number of kitsunebi - magical foxfires - glow and dance in the air around them. Further on, traditional thatched-roof farm buildings are tucked in next to a forested hillside; these buildings are dark and quiet, the humans who live there seemingly oblivious to the activity in the fields. Above, scattered stars shine in a cloudless night sky.

Title: Foxfires at the Changing Tree (c.1857)

Artist: Utagawa Hiroshige

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