What are Holo's roots in Japanese tradition?


The rich background of Holo: being a minor deity of harvest, her forms,
shapeshifting, powers and limitations, likes and dislikes, traits character
etc - how is it grounded in Japanese beliefs, myths, traditions, and legends?

Is her lore entirely made-up for the needs of the show; did the authors take
strong artistic license on some more or less common legends; or is she shaped
closely after a character well known in Japanese culture?

If it's one of the latter, could you give some sources or summaries of the
original upon which she is based?




I wasn't able to find any references that state that _the exact_ background
that Horo has originates from some _exact_ legend or myth. However, it is
definitely not entirely made-up. Animals play a significant role in Japanese
folktales. Two of them are also widely known to be able to transform into
humans, and other objects: _kitsune_ (狐) - fox, and _tanuki_ (狸) - raccoon
dog.

Also, the Wikipedia article ["Japanese
folklore"](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_folklore#Folktales) has this
interesting fact:

> Marriages between humans and non-humans ( _irui konin tan_
> ([異類婚姻譚](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%95%B0%E9%A1%9E%E5%A9%9A%E5%A7%BB%E8%AD%9A)
> _"tales of heterotype marriages"_ )) comprise a major category or motif in
> Japanese folklore. Japanese heterotype examples such as the crane story
> describes a sustained period of married life between the interspecies
> couple, in contrast to Western examples like [Frog
> Prince](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Frog_Prince_%28story%29) or the
> [Leda](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leda_%28mythology%29) myth where the
> supernatural encounter is brief.

I believe we can say that all these definitely have some resemblance with
Horo's background.




I wasn't able to find any references that state that _the exact_ background
that Horo has originates from some _exact_ legend or myth. However, it is
definitely not entirely made-up. Animals play a significant role in Japanese
folktales. Two of them are also widely known to be able to transform into
humans, and other objects: _kitsune_ (狐) - fox, and _tanuki_ (狸) - raccoon
dog.

Also, the Wikipedia article ["Japanese
folklore"](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_folklore#Folktales) has this
interesting fact:

> Marriages between humans and non-humans ( _irui konin tan_
> ([異類婚姻譚](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%95%B0%E9%A1%9E%E5%A9%9A%E5%A7%BB%E8%AD%9A)
> _"tales of heterotype marriages"_ )) comprise a major category or motif in
> Japanese folklore. Japanese heterotype examples such as the crane story
> describes a sustained period of married life between the interspecies
> couple, in contrast to Western examples like [Frog
> Prince](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Frog_Prince_%28story%29) or the
> [Leda](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leda_%28mythology%29) myth where the
> supernatural encounter is brief.

I believe we can say that all these definitely have some resemblance with
Horo's background.

