Tanuki

The Japanese raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus), also known as tanuki (狸 or タヌキ) in Japanese, is a subspecies of the raccoon dognative to Japan.

Researchers have suggested that they be considered a separate species, N. viverrinus, or that raccoon dogs of Japan could be further divisible into separate subspecies as N. p. procyonoides (hondo-tanuki) and N. p. albus (ezo-tanuki), but both views are controversial

As the tanuki, the animal has been significant in Japanese folklore since ancient times. The legendary tanuki is reputed to be mischievous and jolly, a master of disguise and shapeshifting, but somewhat gullible and absentminded. It is also a common theme in Japanese art, especially statuary.

"Tanuki" is often sometimes mistakenly translated into English as badger, an unrelated type of animal with a superficially similar appearance. Traditionally, different areas of Japan had different names for raccoon dogs as animals, which would be used to denote different animals in other parts of the country, including badgers and wild cats; however the official word in the standard Tokyo dialect is now tanuki, a term that also carries the folkloric significance.

There is some debate 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).

Genetic analysis 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 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 necessarily 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).

Statues of tanuki can be found outside many Japanese temples and restaurants, especially noodle shops. These statues often wear big, straw hats and carry bottles of sake in one hand, and a promissory note or empty purse in the other hand. Tanuki statues usually have large bellies. The statues also usually show humorously largetesticles, typically hanging down to the floor or ground, although this feature is sometimes omitted in contemporary sculpture. Small tanuki statues have also been marketed as a front yard decoration and good luck charm for bringing in prosperity.

The actual wild raccoon dog has disproportionately large testicles, a feature that has inspired humorous exaggeration in artistic depictions. 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. A common schoolyard song in Japan makes explicit reference to the tanuki's testicles:

Tan Tan Tanuki no kintama wa,
Kaze mo nai no ni,
Bura bura

('"Tan-tan-tan", tanuki's bollocks ring/The wind stops blowing/But they swing, swing, swing') It continues for several verses, with many regional variations. It is sung to the melody of an American Baptist hymn called "Shall We Gather at the River?".

The comical image and often trickster nature of the tanuki is thought to have developed during the Kamakura era. Many 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 in many stories represent tsukumogami, a transformation of the souls of household goods that were used for 100 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.

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

• 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;
• over-sized testicles that symbolize financial luck;
• a promissory note that represents trust or confidence;
• a big belly that symbolizes bold and calm decisiveness; and
• a friendly smile.

During the Kamakura and Muromachi eras, some stories began to include more sinister tanuki. The Otogizōshi 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", an ironic twist on the folkloric recipe known as "tanuki soup".

In metalworking, raccoon dog skins were often used for thinning gold. As a result, tanuki became associated with precious metals and metalwork. This is also why tanuki are described as having large kintama (金玉 literally 'gold ball', meaning 'testicles' in casual Japanese).

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 orbadgers. 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") may actually contain either raccoon dog or badger, although the taste of the latter is often preferred.

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), it is believed that the characters began to be 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.