Japanese raccoon dog

"Tanuki" redirects here. For the Tanuki-style bonsai, see Deadwood bonsai techniques.

Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus
File:Tanuki By Iwanafish- Cropped.jpg
Conservation status
File:Status iucn2.3 LC.svg.png Least Concern (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Missing taxonomy template (fix):	Nyctereutes
Subgenus:	Template:Taxonomy/Nyctereutes
Species:	Template:Taxonomy/NyctereutesN. procyonoides
Subspecies:	Template:Taxonomy/NyctereutesN. p. viverrinus
Trinomial name
Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus Beard, 1904

The Japanese raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus), also known as tanuki (狸 or たぬき, [taꜜnɯki]) in Japanese, is a subspecies of the Asian raccoon dog.

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" (狸) is often mistakenly translated into English as "badger" or "raccoon" (as used in the US version of the movie Pom Poko and outlined in Tom Robbins' book Villa Incognito), two unrelated types of animals with superficially similar appearances. 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.

The "real" raccoon is called araiguma (洗熊) in Japanese, and badger is anaguma (穴熊) or mujina (狢).

Behavior

The Japanese raccoon dog is mainly nocturnal, but they are known to be active during daylight. They vocalize by growling or with groans that have pitches resembling those of domesticated cats. Another similarity shared with cats is that the Japanese raccoon dog arches it back when it is trying to intimidate other animals; on the contrast, they assume a similar defensive posture to other canids with a lowered body and will show their bellies to submit.

Usually social groups are limited to a breeding pair, but individual Japanese raccoon dogs may stay in a group of non-paired individuals until they find a mate.

Reproduction and lifecycle

The species is predominately monogamous. The breeding period for the species is synchronized between females and males and lasts between February and April. A litter (typically with 4–6 pups) is born after a gestation period of 9 weeks. The parents look after their pups at a den for around a month, and then for another month after the pups leave the den.

Japanese raccoon dogs live for 7–8 years in the wild, and have reached the age of 13 in captivity.

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 the 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).

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

Japanese raccoon dogs at Fukuyama, Hiroshima

File:Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus - Tobu Zoo - 2012.ogv

(video) Several raccoon dogs at Tobu Zoo in Saitama prefecture

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 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 Japanese raccoon dogs could be further divided 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. In Japan the species is hunted mainly to prevent them from damaging crops; however, their fur is desired for use in calligraphy brushes and was exported chiefly to the United States before the outbreak of World War II. The animal is a common victim of vehicle accidents, with conservative estimates of up to 370,000 Japanese raccoon dogs being killed by vehicles each year in Japan.

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 the UK, Chew Valley Animal Park near Bristol in the south west of England has a breeding pair.

In folklore and tradition

File:SekienTanuki.jpg

"Tanuki" from Gazu Hyakki Yagyo by Sekien Toriyama

File:Taxidermy of Raccoon Dog-Morinji, Tatebayashi, Gunma.JPG

Taxidermy of a Japanese raccoon dog, wearing waraji on its feet: This tanuki is displayed in a Buddhist temple in Japan, in the area of the folktale "Bunbuku Chagama".

The tanuki has a long history in Japanese legend and folklore. Bake-danuki (化け狸) are a kind of tanuki yōkai (supernatural beings) 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 or people, and can 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 Kinchō-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.

From time immemorial, Japanese tanuki 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 Japanese tanuki 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 "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.

File:Kamakura Tanuki.jpg

Tanuki statues at a temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan

The comical image of the tanuki having a large scrotum is thought to have developed during the Kamakura era, where goldsmiths would use tanuki pelts for the process of hammering gold nuggets into leaf. 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

In the folklore of the Morin-ji, in Tatebayashi, Gunma Prefecture, a tanuki was disguised as a teapot belonging to a monk named Shukaku, 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 itself as a child 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 itself as a person an invite people to shelter under its umbrella. When a person who doesn't have an umbrella goes under it, it is said that they'd be taken to an 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 itself 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

File:Jrballe 2007 statue of Tanuki entrance shrine.JPG

Tanuki next to a shrine

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

Japanese: Tan-tan-tanuki no kintama wa, Kaze mo nai no ni, Bu-ra bura

English translation: Tan-tan-tanuki's bollocks, Even without wind, They swiiing-swing!

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 oversized 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 usually comes through exported Japanese media. However, they are often described as "raccoons" in translation or assumed as such if no species is given.

Notable appearances of tanuki in popular culture include:

• 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 1994 Studio Ghibli film Pom Poko features a group of tanuki who use their shape-shifting powers to defend their habitat against human developers.
• In the manga/anime Inuyasha, a recurring character Hachiemon is an anthropomorphic raccoon dog. He has shape-shifting powers and can fly in the form of a giant yellow gourd.
• 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.
• 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". The word "tonakai", which is the Japanese word for "reindeer", is where the "Tony" in Chopper's name is derived from.
• In the video game Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, the protagonists sometimes mistake Monokuma for a tanuki, much to his dismay.
• At the beginning of action sequences 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 statue in a pot.
• In the game series KiKi KaiKai (known as Pocky & Rocky in the West), a recurring character is Manuke (Rocky in Western releases), 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; in subsequent games he is an ally.
• The Japanese version of the American Disney computer-animated film Zootopia (Zootropolis) has a tanuki as a newscaster character; the standard release of the film and releases in other countries use other animals.
• The manga and anime Poco's Udon World follows Poco, a magical tanuki that can transform into a young boy.
• in the mobile game “Empires & Puzzles” the epic holy hero Danzaburo is a tanuki directly modeled from modern statues.
• In the video game Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, one of the player characters has a pet tanuki called Kuma.
• In the Sonic game Team Sonic Racing, one of the characters is a tanuki named Dodon Pa.
• In the video game Ōkami, tanukis appear as statues outside of some buildings throughout the game which, when hit, drop with coins or fruit.
• In the video game Ōkamiden, there is an item called "Pot Tanuki" which can be collected through game play.

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 Kirby's Dream Land 3, the bosses of Sand Canyon are Pon and Con, 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"), while Kitsune udon contains fried tofu ("abura-age").

See also

• Japanese folklore
• Raccoon dog

References

• Ikeda, Yasaburō, ed. (1974). Nihon Minzokushi Taikei (日本民俗誌大系). 3. Kadokawa Shoten. ISBN 978-4-04-530303-6. 
• Sakurai, Tokutarō, ed. (1980). Minkan shinkō jiten (民間信仰辞典). Tōkyōdō Shuppan. ISBN 978-4-490-10137-9. 
• Katsumi, Tada (1990). Gensō sekai no jūnintachi (幻想世界の住人たち). Truth in fantasy. IV. Shinkigensha. ISBN 978-4-915146-44-2. 
• Nakamura, Teiri (1990). Tanuki to sono sekai (狸とその世界). Asahi sensho. Asahi Shinbunsha. ISBN 978-4-02-259500-3. 
• Hino, Iwao (2006). Dōbutsu yōkaitan (動物妖怪譚). 2. Chūō Kōron Shinsha. ISBN 978-4-12-204792-1. 

External links

• "Report: Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus" in the Integrated Taxonomic Information System