Bake-danuki are a kind of tanuki yōkai found in the classics and in the folklore and legends of various places in Japan, commonly associated with the Japanese raccoon dog or tanuki. 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, they turn into humans and sing songs. ". 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 : 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, 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.
History
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, Japanese badger, 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 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. 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.
Traits
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 ". 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. The animal name mujina also sometimes meant the Japanese raccoon dog, with overlapping folklore. 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 drum. Tanuki are also said to drum on their bellies, making sounds such as "pom poko" or "ponpon", and typically depicted as having large bellies. Tanuki may or may not be the cause of mysterious drumming sounds tanuki-bayashi.
''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 ; Bunbuku Chagama ; Sōko-tanuki ; Tanuki-bayashi ; Fukurosage ; Owarezaka ; Jūbakobaba ; Fūri ; Akadenchū ; Kasasashi-tanuki ; Kubitsuri-tanuki ; Kozō-tanuki ; Bōzu-tanuki ; Shirodokkuri ; Usagi-tanuki ; Uchiwata-danuki
Ongoing popular tradition
A common schoolyard song in Japan makes explicit reference to the tanuki's testicles: on the melody of Shall We Gather at the River?. 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 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 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.
The 1994 animePom Poko directed by Isao Takahata, animated by Studio Ghibli, features tanuki and their struggle against the destruction of their habitat and way of life.
