Tanuki
is often mistakenly translated as
raccoon or
badger, but is in fact a
raccoon dog (
Nyctereutes procyonoides), a
canid species native to
Japan and other Asian countries. Tanuki have been part of
Japanese mythology since ancient times. The mythical tanuki is reputed to be mischievous and jolly, a master of disguise and
shapeshifting, but somewhat gullible and absent-minded.
The current humorous image of tanuki is thought to have been developed during the
Kamakura era. The wild tanuki has unusually large
testicles, a feature often comically exaggerated in artistic depictions of the creature. Tanuki may be shown with their testicles flung over their backs like a traveller's pack, or using them as
drums. Tanuki are also typically depicted as having large bellies. They may be shown drumming on their bellies instead of their testicles, especially in children's art.
A common schoolyard song in Japan (the tune of which can be heard in the arcade game
Ponpoko) makes rather explicit reference to the tanuki anatomy:
Tan Tan Tanuki no kintama waKaze mo nai no niBura bura buraRoughly translated, it means "Tanuki's testicles swing back and forth even when there is no wind blowing." [
1]
During the Kamakura and
Muromachi eras, some stories began to include more sinister tanuki. The
Otogizoshi story of "
Kachi-kachi Yama" features a tanuki that clubs an old lady to death and serves her to her unknowing husband as "old lady soup". Other stories report tanuki as being harmless and productive members of society. Several shrines have stories of past priests who were tanuki in disguise. Shapeshifting tanuki are sometimes believed to be a transformation of the souls of household goods that were used for one hundred years or more.
A popular tale known as
Bunbuku chagama is about a tanuki who fooled a monk by transforming into a tea-kettle. Another is about a tanuki who tricked a hunter by disguising his arms as tree boughs, until he spread both arms at the same time and fell off the tree. Tanuki are said to cheat merchants with leaves they have magically disguised as paper money. Some stories describe tanuki as using leaves as part of their own shape-shifting magic.
In
metalworking, tanuki skins were often used for thinning gold. As a result, tanuki became associated with metal mines and metal craftwork and were marketed as front yard decoration and good luck charm for bringing in prosperity.
Statues of tanuki can be found outside many Japanese temples and restaurants, especially noodle shops. These statues often wear a big, cone-shaped hat and carry a bottle of
sake. Tanuki statues always have a large belly, although contemporary sculptures may or may not show the traditional large testicles. These exaggerated features represent fertility and plenty.
Tom Robbins' recent book
Villa Incognito has also done much to spread awareness of tanuki, especially in America.
While tanuki are prominent in Japanese folklore and proverbs, they were not always properly distinguished from other animals. In local dialects,
tanuki and
mujina (狢,
kyujitai: 貉) refer either to a raccoon dog, a badger, or a relative of the badger. What is known as tanuki in one region may be known as
mujina in another region. In today's Tokyo standard dialect,
tanuki refers to raccoon dogs and
anaguma refers to badgers. There are such local dishes known as
tanuki-jiru, or "tanuki soup," which either uses raccoon dog or badger, the latter being more renowned for its taste.
The kanji for tanuki, 狸 (
kyujitai: 貍), can be used interchangeably without change of meaning, while the former is currently more common. Originally, the characters were used to refer to mid-sized mammals, mostly
wild cats. Since wild cats live in only very limited regions of Japan (
e.g. Iriomote,
Okinawa), it is believed that the characters began to be used for "tanuki" instead starting around the
Japanese feudal era. Historically, this has been a source of confusion and misleading translations between the two languages.
In
Chinese, the character 狸, which uses the "
canine radical" (犭), is considered the modern form. It is not used as a word by itself but appears in
fox (狐狸,
pinyin: húlí) and
civet (香狸, pinyin: xiānglí). The character 貍 uses the "
feline radical"(豸), and its usage is archaic.
In Japanese slang,
Tanuki kao ("raccoon dog face") refers to women with wide-set eyes, a wide forehead, full lips and a round shape. Conversely,
kitsune kao, or "fox face" refer to women who have a narrow face having close-set eyes, thin eyebrows, and high cheekbones.
* The
Tom Robbins novel,
Villa Incognito, features a central character portrayed as "the" Tanuki, either an avatar of or physical representation of the spirit-being of the same name. Both the wild animals and their folkloric counterparts play a significant role.
 |
Mario in his Tanooki Suit |
* In
Super Mario Bros. 3,
Mario has the ability to change into a tanuki by using a power-up called the "
Tanooki suit". While wearing the Tanooki Suit, Mario gains the ability to turn into a statue, which resembles a stone
Jizō. When Mario transforms into Raccoon Mario, he uses a leaf to complete the shapeshifting, like the tanuki of legend. Also, in
Super Mario Sunshine, there are raccoon-like creatures that sell
Shine Sprites for 10 blue
coins each. These are likely to be tanuki, due to their light brown colouration.
*In Capcom's
Mega Man 6 (
Rockman 6 in Japan) video game, the first enemy encountered in Yamato Man's stage is a Tanuki-like robot which fires explosive bouncing balls from its large belly.
*A character named
Heinrad in the
Beast Wars Neo Transformers series has the alternate form of a tanuki (albiet a tanuki with a clock in its stomach).
* In the video game
Animal Crossing, the store owner is a bipedal talking raccoon dog named "
Tom Nook", which is a play on the word "tanuki". The furniture Tom peddles also transforms into green leaves in a similar fashion for portability.
* In the video game "
Pocky & Rocky", released by
Natsume in 1992, one of the two main characters is Rocky, a tanuki and Pocky's pet. In the game and its sequels
Pocky & Rocky 2 released in 1994, and
Pocky & Rocky with Becky, released in 2001, Rocky has the ability to throw green leaves as an attack as well as the power to turn into a statue. In Japan the series is known as
KiKi KaiKai.
* In
Studio Ghibli's film
Pom Poko the shapeshifting tanuki are fighting construction workers, who are destroying their habitat, with use of their illusion powers and large
scrotums. Some viewers were surprised at the depiction of giant animal testes (called "pouches" in the American version) in the film when it was imported to the
United States and distributed by
Disney, who translated 'tanuki' into 'raccoon' for both the subtitles and the dub.[
2] Americans were surprised because Japanese culture is much different and doesn't treat it as a sexual symbol, as Americans might see it.
* In
Hiroyuki Takei's
manga,
Shaman King, the tanuki Ponchi wears nothing, revealing large testicles that he uses to restrain/smother
Manta Oyamada in an early appearance. The
anime censors this by including a diaper and using his stomach instead.
* In the popular anime
Doraemon, the lead character, an earless cat-shaped robot from the twenty-second century is often mistaken for a tanuki robot, much to his dismay.
* In the anime
InuYasha, a tanuki named
Hachi occasionally assists the main characters by transporting them. He places a green leaf on his head to become a gigantic creature that resembles an ambulatory sock more than anything else.
* In the anime
Naruto, the tanuki Shukaku is one of
nine demons sealed within persons, giving them supernatural powers. Its host,
Gaara, enjoys the ability to move and levitate sand at will, and sand moves to shield and protect him independent of his will. In extreme circumstances Shukaku may physically manifest as a giant creature made of sand.
* In the
MMORPG Ragnarok Online, there is a tanuki-inspired monster called Smokie. Smokies are raccoon (or raccoon dog) monsters that once tamed as pets, may be prompted to perform a "trick" in which it either transforms into a leaf or uses a leaf to magically facilitate a vanishing act. Smokies commonly drop an item called a "Raccoon Leaf", which is an ingredient for a quest headgear that looks like a large leaf on the character's forehead when equipped called "Huge Leaf". Smokies are normally found in the field just outside the Prontera Monastery, and in certain fields related to the
Korea-inspired town Payon and the
Thailand-inspired city Ayothaya, but ironically nowhere in any of the
Japan-inspired Amatsu maps.
* The mascot of the
anime convention Anime Mid-Atlantic is Tanuki-chan, a
kemonomimi with raccoon/tanuki-like features.
* In
Princess Raccoon, a 2005 film by director
Seijun Suzuki, Chinese actress
Zhang Ziyi portrays Tanuki-hime, a tanuki princess who falls in love with a human prince.
* The Japanese punk band
Melt Banana recorded a song entitled "Pidgeon-Headed Raccoon-Dog".
*
Entry on "tanuki" at The Obakemono Project*
Tanuki at The Portal of Transformation*
Japanese commercial featuring Little Red Riding Hood and a Tanuki
