Ever since I arrived in Japan I’d been wondering when I was going to run into these guys:
They’re tanuki. I first learned about them and their unusual, um, anatomical powers from the brilliant Studio Ghibli anime Pom Poko, in which they star. While tanuki traditionally tend towards mischief rather than malice, it’s best not to rub them up the wrong way. Something that didn’t appear in that story was that the males are known for occasionally smothering enemies to death with their gigantic, shape-shifting-
No. No: this being a family site I won’t say which part of their anatomy they use. But if the, erm, generous proportions of the guys in the pic above don’t provide a clue, perhaps this Wikipedia link about tanuki will help.
Before taking the photo of these tanuki I made sure to ask their permission very, very nicely. Then I thanked them, told them I was glad to have met them, and walked away very, very fast.
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