 Japanese fox myths had its origins in Chinese mythology . Chinese folk tales tell of fox spirits called <unk> <unk> ( Chinese : <unk> ) that may have up to nine tails ( <unk> no Kitsune in Japanese ) . Many of the earliest surviving stories are recorded in the <unk> <unk> , an 11th @-@ century collection of Chinese , Indian , and Japanese narratives . The nine @-@ tailed foxes came to be adapted as a motif from Chinese mythology to Japanese mythology . 
