Happiragu(八尾羅宮) is the Shinto shrine in Okayama, Japan. ’Happi(八尾)' means eight tails in Japanese and Happiragu deify the eight-tailed foxes.

Shinto religion has countless Gods(八百万の神) but there is only one the God in Shinto religion to protect people from bullying, and Happiragu is that.

Prosperous business

Good health

Huge harvest

Protection from bullying

and so on**.

**It is said that you can make eight wishes based on the eight-tailed foxes.

Long-ago, when Kojima, the region of Okayama was still an island, the foxes who have nine tails (The nine-tailed fox is known as the Yokai 'Kyubi' in Japan.) and other animals caused a great deal of damage to crops on the fields of Kojima.

Kumano Shrine (in Kojima) parishioners visited the shrine and prayed to the God of Kumano Shrine for crop protection. And suddenly, they had a revelation,"the foxes will come to Kumano Shrine and they will stop causing damage to crops if you build a new shrine inside the ground of Kumano Shrine".

Parishioners built a new shrine inside the ground of Kumano Shrine. Then, the foxes came to the new shrine and they became the guardian of the new shrine.

Later, the shrine came to be called 'Happiragu' for the legend, the foxes donated their own one of their each nine tails when they became the guardians of the shrine.

Now, Happiragu has many worshipers not only locals but who come from afar for the folklore* to protect people from bullying.

*The folklore Happiragu protect people from bullying

long-ago, there was a farmer in Kojima. He had a daughter who was to be married soon. One day, he visited Happiragu and prayed for his daughter to live happily in her marriage.

His daughter got married and became the wife of another family. In another family, she had her mother -in-law and her mother-in-law tried to bully her.

But every time when her mother-in-law tried to that, the foxes of Happiragu came to her house, they stamped their feet in the attic of the house and made noises, and they warned her mother-in-law.

Her mother-in-law was scared of it and stopped bullying. Then, she lived a happy married life.