ABSTRACT
One of the best known creatures of Japanese folklore, the tanuki has long been a presence in Japanese literature and art, and more recently in films, anime, video games, and other forms of popular culture. While often considered an example of yōkai or bakemono, both translatable as “monster,” tanuki are commonly characterized as ambiguous supernatural trickster figures, mischievous but not necessarily murderous. Zoologically speaking, tanuki are real animals found throughout East Asia; they are generally nocturnal, omnivorous mammals similar to raccoons in both appearance and size. In Japanese, this same creature is sometimes referred to as a mujina, but tanuki has come to be the more common term. In English,
Fig. 32 Tanuki by Allison W. Sommers
tanuki is sometimes translated as badger or raccoon, but “raccoon dog” is a more accurate label in terms of the creature’s Linnaean classification as a canid (Nyctereutes procyonoides). Similar to raccoons, possums, foxes, and coyotes in other parts of the world, the tanuki is a wild animal that occasionally makes brief mischievous intrusions into areas inhabited by humans.
