Japanese raccoon dog

Name

While tanuki are prominent in Japanese folklore and proverbs, they were not always clearly distinguished from other animals with a similar appearance. In local dialects, tanuki and mujina (狢, kyujitai: 貉) can refer to raccoon dogs or badgers. An animal known as tanuki in one region may be known as mujina in another region. In modern Tokyo standard dialect, tanuki refers to raccoon dogs and anaguma refers to badgers. Regional dishes known as tanuki-jiru ("tanuki soup") do not contain actual tanuki. Some northern, very rural communities may eat tanuki stew (tanuki shichuu).

Originally, the kanji for tanuki, 狸 (kyujitai: 貍) was used to refer to other mid-sized mammals, mostly wild cats. Since wild cats live only in limited regions of Japan (e.g. Iriomote, Okinawa), the characters are believed to have begun being used to mean "raccoon dog" instead starting around the Japanese feudal era. This shift in meaning, along with the rarity of the raccoon dog outside Japan, may have contributed to confusion over the proper translation of tanuki into other languages.

In Japanese slang, tanuki gao ("raccoon dog face") can refer to a face that looks like that of the animal, or a person's facial expression of feigned ignorance. By contrast, kitsune gao ("fox face") refers to people with narrow faces, close-set eyes, thin eyebrows, and high cheekbones.

Taxonomic disputes

Some debate exists in the scientific community regarding speciation between the other subspecies of raccoon dog and the Japanese subspecies in that due to chromosomal, behavioral, and weight differences, the Japanese raccoon dog could be considered a separate species (i.e. Nyctereutes viverrinus rather than N. procyonoides viverrinus). The Japanese raccoon dog has a relatively smaller stomach and shorter fur of lesser insulation value than mainland raccoon dogs.

Genetic analysis has confirmed unique sequences of mtDNA, classifying the Japanese raccoon dog as a distinct isolation species, based on evidence of eight Robertsonian translocations. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) canid Group's Canid Biology and Conservation Conference in September 2001 rejected the classification of the Japanese raccoon dog as a separate species, but its status is still disputed, based on its elastic genome.

A not mutually exclusive position advanced by some researchers is that raccoon dogs of Japan could be further divisible into separate subspecies as N. p. procyonoides (hondo-tanuki) and N. p. albus (ezo-tanuki).

Conservation and exhibition

The IUCN places the raccoon dog at "least concern" status due to the animal's wide distribution in Japan and abundant population, including as an introduced species throughout northeastern Europe. In many European countries, it is legal to hunt raccoon dogs, as they are considered a harmful and invasive species.

This species is rarely exhibited in zoological parks. For example, only two zoos accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association – Zoo Atlanta in Atlanta, Georgia, and the Red River Zoo in Fargo, North Dakota – currently exhibit this species in the United States. The Hangzhou Zoo in China and the River Safari in Singapore also have Japanese raccoon dogs.

In folklore and tradition

The tanuki has a long history in Japanese legend and folklore. Bake-danuki (化け狸) are a kind of tanuki yōkai (ghost) found in the classics and in the folklore and legends of various places in Japan.

Although the tanuki is a real, extant animal, the bake-danuki that appears in literature has always been depicted as a strange, even supernatural animal. The earliest appearance of the bake-danuki in literature, in the chapter about Empress Suiko in the Nihon Shoki written during the Nara period, there are such passages as "in two months of spring, there are tanuki in the country of Mutsu (春二月陸奥有狢), they turn into humans and sing songs (化人以歌). ". Bake-danuki subsequently appear in such classics as the Nihon Ryōiki and the Uji Shūi Monogatari. In some regions of Japan, bake-danuki are reputed to have abilities similar to those attributed to kitsune (foxes): they can shapeshift into other things, shapeshift people, and possess human beings.

Many legends of tanuki exist in the Sado Islands of Niigata Prefecture and in Shikoku, and among them, like the Danzaburou-danuki of Sado, the Kinkyou-tanuki and Rokuemon-tanuki of Awa Province (Tokushima Prefecture), and the Yashima no Hage-tanuki of Kagawa Prefecture, the tanuki that possessed special abilities were given names, and even became the subject of rituals. Apart from these places, tanuki are treated with special regard in a few cases.

The character 狸, pronounced lí in modern Mandarin, was originally a collective name for medium-sized mammals resembling cats in China, with the leopard cat as its nucleus. When this character was brought to Japan, it could not be suitably applied to any animals. Japanese intellectuals used the character to signify tanuki, stray cats, wild boars, Eurasian badgers, weasels, and Japanese giant flying squirrels.

The tanuki of Japan from time immemorial were deified as governing all things in nature, but after the arrival of Buddhism, animals other than envoys of the gods (foxes, snakes, etc.) lost their divinity. Since all that remained was the image of possessing special powers, they were seen as evil or as yōkai, with tanuki being a representative type. Some also take the viewpoint that the image of the tanuki has overlapped with that of the mysterious and fearful 狸 of China (leopard cat). However, since the tanuki of Japan do not have the fearsome image that the leopard cats of China do, unlike in China, their image took the form of a more humorous kind of monster, and even in folktales like "Kachi-kachi Yama", and "Bunbuku Chagama", they often played the part of foolish animals.

Compared with kitsune, which are the epitome of shape-changing animals, one saying is given that "the fox has seven disguises, the tanuki has eight (狐七化け、狸八化け)". The tanuki is thus superior to the fox in its disguises, but unlike the fox, which changes its form for the sake of tempting people, tanuki do so to fool people and make them seem stupid. Also, a theory is told that they simply like to change their form.

The comical image of the tanuki having a large scrotum is thought to have developed during the Kamakura era, where goldsmiths would use the pelts of tanuki for the process of hammering gold nuggets into leaf. Due to the actual wild tanuki having disproportionately large testicles, a feature that has inspired humorous exaggeration in artistic depictions, and how gold nuggets share a homophone with testicles in the Japanese language, such associations would come to memetically link them together into its folklore image tradition of being a creature of wealth and whimsy. Tanuki may be shown with their testicles flung over their backs like travelers' packs, or using them as drums. As tanuki are also typically depicted as having large bellies, they may be depicted as drumming on their bellies instead of their testicles — particularly in contemporary art.

Bake-danuki by area

Stories of bake-danuki are told in each area of Japan, especially in Shikoku, and whenever mysterious events occur, it would be the work of a tanuki. There are also ones known internationally like the Inugami Gyoubu and his 808 followers of his household.

Three famous tanuki of Japan

Danzaburou-danuki (Sado island, Niigata Prefecture), Shibaemon-tanuki (Awaji Island, Hyōgo Prefecture), Yashima no Hage-tanuki (Yashima, Kagawa Prefecture)

Bunbuku Chagama

It is the folklore of the Morin-ji, in Tatebayashi, Gunma Prefecture. A tanuki was disguised as a teapot belonging to a monk named Mamorizuru, and boiled tea that would never run out no matter how much one draws from it. In the Morinji no Kama from Konjaku Hyakki Shūi by Toriyama Sekien, it was named "Bunbuku" from the expression "Bunbukuka" (文武火), meaning "literary and military fire," where the literary fire means the fire for reading by, and the military fire means destructive fire.

Sōko-tanuki (宗固狸, lit. "religion adherence tanuki")

In the Gugyō-ji in Iinuma, Ibaraki Prefecture, there is a grave for this tanuki. It disguised as a monk for the temple, but one day, it took a nap and showed its true form. However, it was said that due to working there for a long time, this tanuki was then made a page.

Tanuki-bayashi

In Edo, as one of the seven mysteries of the town, there were sounds of a drum that come from nowhere that can be heard in the middle of the night that were called "tanuki-bayashi". It was the basis for the nursery rhyme, Shōjō-ji no Tanuki-bayashi, passed down at Shōjō-ji.

Fukurosage (袋下げ, lit. "dangling bag")

Oomachi town, Kitaazumi District, Nagano Prefecture (now Ōmachi city). It was a tanuki who climbed a large tree, caught the attention of passersby, and dangled white bags.

Owarezaka (負われ坂, lit. "chase me hill")

Minamikawachi District, Osaka Prefecture. Upon passing by a certain hill during the night, there would be a voice saying "will you chase me, will you chase me (oware yo ka, oware yo ka)," and when a stout-hearted man says "should I chase, should I chase (outaro ka, outaro ka)," one would have already gone on top of a large stump of a pine tree. If one tries to return home and split it with a knife, the old tanuki would show its true form and apologize.

Jūbakobaba (重箱婆, lit. "jūbako old woman")

Tamana District, Kumamoto Prefecture and Hyūga, Miyazaki Prefecture. It is said that the old tanuki would disguise itself as an old woman with a jūbako in her hand. In Kumamoto, the jūbakobaba would furthermore, while saying "as a jūbakobaba (old woman with a jūbako), do you need a treat or not," deceive people with a rock-like object.

Fūri

The fūri can be seen in the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō, the Wakan Sansai Zue, and the Bencao Gangmu, with statements like "like wind among rocks, it climbs trees, and has a swiftness like flying birds." It is said that by looking for a particular kind of grass and holding it out to a bird, it can serve as bait.

Akadenchū (赤殿中, lit. "red denchū")

Horie village, Itano District, Tokushima Prefecture (now Naruto). In the middle of night, it would disguise as a child disguised in a red denchū (a sleveless hanten), who insistently begs to be carried on one's back. Since it seems pleasant even when one carries it on one's back, it would beat on that person's shoulders.

Kasasashi-tanuki (傘差し狸, lit. "tanuki carrying an umbrella")

Ikeda, Miyoshi District, Tokushima Prefecture (now Miyoshi). During times like rainy evenings, it would disguise as a person with an umbrella and invite people. When a person who doesn't have an umbrella goes under it, it is said that they'd be taken to unbelievably out-there place.

Kubitsuri-tanuki (首吊り狸, lit. "neck-hanging tanuki")

Yutani, Hashikura, Miyoshi District, Tokushima Prefecture (now Miyoshi). It is said to lure people and cause them to be hanged by the neck.

Kozō-tanuki (小僧狸, lit. "young priest tanuki")

Gakushima, Oe District, Tokushima Prefecture (now Yoshinogawa). It would disguise itself as a young priest and stand in the way of passersby, and if one gets angry and cuts it with a sword, it would multiply in numbers all night long.

Bōzu-tanuki (坊主狸, lit. "shaven-head tanuki")

Handa, Mima District, Tokushima Prefecture (now Tsurugi). When people cross a bridge named "Bōzu Bridge," before they know it, they would find their hair shaven.

Shirodokkuri (白徳利, lit. "white wine bottle")

Hyūgadani Muyachō Kokuwajima, Naruto, Tokushima, Tokushima Prefecture. This tanuki would disguise itself as a white wine bottle, but when people try to pick it up, it would roll around making it impossible for people to catch it.

Usagi-tanuki (兎狸, lit. "rabbit tanuki")

Tokushima Prefecture. On the small hill of Takaoka along the Yoshino River, it would disguise as a rabbit and run at ease, and when people find it and think of it as a suitable catch, they would end up running around Takaoka hill several times.

Uchiwata-danuki (打綿狸, lit. "strike cotton tanuki")

Kagawa Prefecture. It would transform its appearance into a piece of cotton and roll along the roadside, but when people try to pick it up, it would start to move and rise to the sky.

Ongoing popular tradition

A common schoolyard song in Japan makes explicit reference to the tanuki's testicles:

It continues for several verses, with many regional variations.

The legendary tanuki has eight special traits that bring good fortune, possibly created to coincide to the hachi symbol (八, meaning 'eight') often found on the sake bottles the statues hold. The eight traits are these:

a hat to be ready to protect against trouble or bad weather;

big eyes to perceive the environment and help make good decisions;

a sake bottle that represents virtue;

a big tail that provides steadiness and strength until success is achieved;

an over-sized scrotum that symbolizes financial luck;

a promissory note that represents trust or confidence;

a big belly that symbolizes bold and calm decisiveness; and

a friendly smile.

The statues available all over Japan of the tanuki are Shigaraki ware, a style of pottery long associated with tanuki imagery. According to Alice Gordenker, the modern version of the tanuki was developed by a potter named Tetsuzo Fujiwara, who moved to Shiga Prefecture in 1936 and whose pottery was admired even by the emperor.

In popular culture

Tanuki are a recurring theme in Japanese popular culture. The first exposure of non-Japanese to tanuki often comes through exported Japanese media; however they are often described as "raccoons" in translation or assumed as such if no species is given.

Some notable appearances of tanuki in popular culture include these:

In Nintendo's video games Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario 3D Land, New Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario 3D World, Mario can wear a "Tanooki Suit". By doing so, he takes on the appearance of a tanuki and gains the ability to fly, spin his tail to attack enemies, and shape-shift into a statue, much like a bake-danuki. The same games also feature the "Super Leaf", which gives Mario tanuki ears and tails and allows him to fly and use his tail to attack, although this form is known as Raccoon Mario; in Super Mario 3D Land and Super Mario 3D World, Mario can only transform into his Tanooki form after obtaining a Super Leaf. This power up is based on the mythology of tanuki using leaves to help themselves transform.

The Studio Ghibli film Pom Poko features a group of tanuki who use their shape-shifting powers to defend their habitat against human developers.

The 2013 Japanese comedy-drama novel The Eccentric Family (有頂天家族, Uchōten Kazoku), later adapted into an anime series, tells the tale of a family of magical tanuki who are coping with the death of their father after he was eaten by humans.

Tom Nook, a recurring character in the Animal Crossing video game series, is a tanuki, as well as his two nephews, Timmy and Tommy. In the English versions, he is usually described as a raccoon, although his name still alludes to tanuki. The furniture that these characters sell transforms into leaves for easy transport.

Chap's magical form in the PC-FX game Chip-chan Kick includes the ears and tail of a tanuki.

In the Japanese manga series Naruto, Gaara's power originates from One-Tailed Shūkaku, a tanuki, sealed in his body. This also gives Gaara tanuki-like rings around his eyes.

In One Piece, a running gag is that various characters think Tony Tony Chopper is a tanuki (raccoon-dog, or simply translated as "raccoon") while in his Brain Point or hybrid form. The word "tonakai", which is the Japanese word for "reindeer", is where the "Tony" in Chopper's name is derived from.

Mamizou Futatsuiwa from Touhou Project is a bake-tanuki, based on danzaburou danuki of Sado Island.

At the beginning of action sequences (typically the leadup to a boss fight) in the Super NES game The Legend of the Mystical Ninja, the player is given a warning by a tanuki statue, referred to in-game as "Raccoon Dog". This serves as a continue point, should the player die before either completing the stage or finding an elephant in a pot. In later games on Super NES, tanuki statues appear as goals at the end of levels. Additionally in Ganbare Goemon Kirakira Dōchū: Boku ga Dancer ni Natta Wake, the fourth Super NES games of the series, a tanuki impedes progress by creating a false village and pretending to be Goemon's love interest (through transformation) unless Goemon can reveal his deception.

In the game series KiKi KaiKai, a recurring character is Rocky, a tanuki that attacks using leaves and may avoid attack by transforming into a statue. In the first game of the series he appears as the final boss who has convinced many yokai to rebel against the Shrine Maiden Pocky. In subsequent games he appears as an ally.

GitLab, Inc. uses an orange tanuki for their company logo. This smart animal that works in a group to achieve a common goal is representative of GitLab's mission and culture.

Hachiemon, or Hachi, is a raccoon-dog yokai in the anime & manga Inuyasha who occasionally appears as an ally, first met as the friend of the Buddhist monk Miroku.

The Japanese version of the American Disney computer-animated film Zootopia (Zootropolis) has a tanuki as a newcaster character; the standard release of the film and releases in other countries use other animals

In the anime series Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun, Yukari Miyako is a Shōjo manga artist whose works feature a tanuki, mainly because her editor, Mitsuya Maeno, is a narcissist who is fond of cute characters especially tanukis.

Tanuki often appear alongside kitsune. For example, in Pom Poko, kitsune are seen coexisting with human society as gangsters and prostitutes, in contrast to the tanuki who attempt to resist it; and in Animal Crossing, the player's town is sometimes visited by an unscrupulous kitsune art dealer named Redd. In Super Mario 3D Land, Luigi's equivalent of Mario's Tanooki suit instead resembles a fox. In Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies, a nine-tailed fox of legend is also featured alongside themes of tanuki. In Kirby's Dreamland 3, the bosses of the third world are a large tanuki and kitsune. They also appear in Kirby: Right Back at Ya In Naruto, Gaara and Naruto, the holder of the Nine-Tails, are the only two jinchûriki to appear in the first part of the series, possessing tailed beasts that resemble a tanuki and a kitsune.

In Japanese cooking, the words "tanuki" and "kitsune" designate two varieties of the udon dish. Tanuki udon contains the flakes of fried tempura batter ("tenkasu"). Kitsune udon contains fried tofu ("abura-age").