According to old legends, on New Year's Eve, foxes from all over the Kanto region gathered in Oji underneath a large hackberry tree. After donning costumes, the foxes then proceeded to Oji Inari Shrine as the new year dawned. Shozoku Inari Shrine honors that tree, which no longer exists, where the foxes are said to have put on their costumes.
The legend is depicted in Utagawa Hiroshige's ukiyo-e print "New Year's Eve Foxfires at the Changing Tree, Oji."
The Oji Fox Parade recreates the scene from that woodblock print. Local volunteers and shopkeepers started the parade in 1993 as a community event.
Roughly 300 people reenact the legend by walking from Shozoku Inari Shrine to Oji Inari Shrine at night on New Year's Eve. They dress in traditional Japanese clothing, wear fox masks, and carry yellow paper lanterns that represent the "foxfire."
Shozoku Inari Shrine offers a special New Year's Eve shrine stamp, and nearby shops sell fox masks.