Thanks to Heath for bringing this back to mind: the
Japanese raccoon dog, or more properly,
Tanuki.
Studio Ghibli brought this wonder of Japanese fauna and folklore to America in the film
Pom Poko. Distributed by Disney, it is very humorous to see how they handled the
tanuki's key feature: their magical super-scrotums! (Dubbed, "magical pouches." "Hey, baby, wanna see what I can do with my magical pouch?") Because, the real point of this post is oh-the-things-that-they-can-do with their lucky nut sacks. Go ahead.
Stare in wonder at these traditional prints. Linking that page that Heath sent me is the
raison d'etre of today's blog. Too bad it is too late to get a
tanuki Christmas ornament for your tree. Or even better: do they make
tanuki dreidels? For those of you who have to get more scholarly to justify gazing in wonder at beastly ballocks, here is the entry at
the Obakemono Project. And don't forget to put
Pom Poko in your queue so the kiddies will have something fun to watch over holiday break.
