If you’ve wandered the foggy, snow-dusted slopes of Mount Yotei chasing glowing fox spirits and weirdly placed stone lanterns, you’ve almost certainly stumbled on the kitsune ghost of yotei puzzle. It’s one of those hidden overworld puzzles that feels completely impossible until you spot the tiny clue most players miss, and the reward (a luxurious chest, plus a sweet little lore snippet) is well worth the 10 minutes it takes to solve. I spent 20 minutes running in circles the first time I found it, blowing through electro attacks on random lanterns and wondering why nothing was working, so I put together this guide to help you skip the frustration and get the loot fast.
What You Need Before Starting the Kitsune Ghost of Yotei Puzzle
First off, there’s one non-negotiable item you have to own to even access this puzzle, and a lot of new players skip the quest that unlocks it. You will not be able to interact with the kitsune ghost or see the hidden lantern markers until you have the Memento Lens in your inventory. You get this key item from the “A Strange Story in Konda” world quest, which unlocks right after you complete the first part of the Inazuma archon quest line. If you haven’t done that quest yet, go knock it out first – it only takes 30 minutes, and unlocks dozens of other hidden puzzles around Inazuma too.
You don’t need any specific character to beat this puzzle, though having an electro user with a fast, ranged attack (like Fischl or Lisa) will make lighting lanterns a lot faster. You can also use electrograna from nearby sakura branches if you don’t have an electro character in your party, so don’t worry if you’re running a full non-electro team for exploration.
The only other thing you need is a little patience. The ghost moves slowly, and rushing it will just make you have to restart the whole process. I learned that the hard way, so take my word for it.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough to Solve the Puzzle
First, fast travel to the Mount Yotei southern waypoint, then head northwest until you find a half-buried torii gate next to a small, chipped kitsune statue. If you see a group of hilichurls camped near a frozen pond, you’re in the right spot. Clear the enemies first if you want, they won’t attack you while you’re following the ghost, but they can be annoying if you get distracted mid-puzzle.
Follow these steps exactly to avoid messing up the sequence:
- Use your Memento Lens on the small cracked kitsune statue next to the abandoned torii gate to summon the wandering ghost
- Follow the ghost at a slow pace – if you run too far ahead, it will disappear and you’ll have to restart the process
- Light each stone lantern the ghost stops next to in the order it visits them, using an electro attack or electrograna
- Return to the original torii gate after lighting all 3 lanterns to find the final glowing lantern and unlock the chest
Do not attack the ghost or use any AOE skills near it while you’re following, it will vanish immediately and you’ll have to reset the puzzle. The kitsune ghost of yotei puzzle has a fairly generous reset timer, so if it does disappear, just teleport back to the nearest waypoint and come back in 30 seconds, and the statue will work again. You don’t have to light the lanterns instantly when the ghost stops, just make sure you do it before moving on to the next location, or the sequence will break.
Common Mistakes That Make the Puzzle Unsolvable
I’ve seen dozens of players post about this puzzle being bugged, and 99% of the time it’s just a small, avoidable mistake causing the issue. The first mistake most people make is using the Memento Lens on the wrong statue. There’s a large, intact kitsune statue a few feet away from the small chipped one, and it does nothing when you use the lens on it. Only the small, chipped statue next to the half-buried torii will spawn the correct ghost.
Another common mistake is lighting the lanterns out of order. If you’ve explored the area before and lit some of the lanterns randomly, they’ll stay lit and break the sequence. If that happens, just wait 5 minutes for the lanterns to reset, or teleport away and come back, and they’ll turn off on their own. You have to light them exactly in the order the ghost visits them, no exceptions.
If the ghost keeps disappearing even when you’re following it slowly, check if your game’s brightness is turned all the way down. The fog on Mount Yotei can make the ghost’s glow really hard to see, so you might be accidentally walking past it and not realizing. Turn up your brightness a little, and you’ll spot its faint blue glow easily.
Lore and Hidden Rewards for Completing the Puzzle
Most players go into this puzzle just looking for primogems, but the lore attached to it is actually one of the sweetest hidden stories in Inazuma. The ghost is a young kitsune who waited at the foot of the mountain for her human friend to return from a pilgrimage to the top, and froze to death during a blizzard. The lanterns you light are the signal she promised her friend she’d leave so he could find his way back down.
For completing the puzzle, you’ll get a Luxurious Chest with 30 primogems, 2 Hero’s Wit, 3 Mystic Enhancement Ore, and a small lore note that adds to the larger story of Inazuma’s kitsune spirits. You also unlock a hidden achievement called "Fox in the Snow" for completing the puzzle without the ghost vanishing once. That achievement gives you an extra 5 primogems, so it’s worth taking the extra time to do the puzzle right the first time.
If you like these small lore-focused puzzles, keep an eye out for other small chipped kitsune statues around Inazuma. There are 4 more scattered across the region, each with their own small puzzle and lore snippet, and collecting all 5 lore notes unlocks an extra common chest and a little Easter egg dialogue from Yae Miko if you visit her at the Grand Narukami Shrine after finding them all.
The kitsune ghost of yotei puzzle is one of those small, thoughtful hidden details that makes exploring Inazuma feel so rewarding, even when it’s frustrating at first. You don’t need any fancy characters or high adventure rank to finish it, just a little patience and the right tool. If you get stuck at any point, just reset the area and try again – it’s far simpler than it looks the first time you stumble on it.