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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. 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, [1] [2] and can possess ...
The Japanese raccoon dog (Nyctereutes viverrinus), [1] also known by its Japanese name tanuki (Japanese: 狸, タヌキ), [2] is a species of canid endemic to Japan. It is one of two species in the genus Nyctereutes, alongside the common raccoon dog (N. procyonoides), [3] of which it was traditionally thought to be a subspecies (Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus).
The kitsune exhibit the ability of bakeru or transforming its shape and appearance, and bakasu, capable of trickery or bewitching; these terms are related to the generic term bakemono meaning "spectre" or "goblin", [5] and such capabilities were also ascribed to badgers [6] (actually tanuki or raccoon dog) and occasionally to cats (cf. bakeneko).
In Meireki 3 (AD 1657), tanuki were farmed and their skins were used in the crafting of bellows. Danzaburou was the name of a human merchant in Echigo, who purportedly began caring for and trying to conserve the tanuki in Sado, and became widely respected on the island. Theory states that the tanuki itself was later worshiped as an ujigami. [13]
The mujina is said to be a raccoon-faced creature in its natural form, with the main body being that of a Japanese badger. [3] In some parts of Japan, they are incorrectly referred to as the tanuki, to whom they are closely related in terms of appearance as well as actions- even though the tanuki are biologically related to the fox and dog.
The similar Japanese raccoon dog (Nyctereutes viverrinus, the tanuki), native to Japan, is the only other living member of the genus Nyctereutes. [2] Other names for the common raccoon dog include mangut (its Evenki name), [ 3 ] and neoguri (its Korean name).
Two creatures are particularly known for their abilities to transform into humans or other beings and objects, the kitsune (fox) and tanuki (the Japanese raccoon dog; pictured). They occur frequently in folktales of humorous nature, such as the tanuki, Bunbuku Chagama, who could shapeshift into a teapot.
In the Naruto series, Shukaku, the One-Tail, who is modeled after a tanuki, is mentioned to have originally been sealed into a teapot. It is revealed later that his former jinchūriki (human container) was an old man named Bunbuku. In Ichiro by Ryan Inzana, the legend of the tanuki teapot (chagama) is woven into a side-story of an American ...