Tanuki FAQ

The Tanuki or Japanese raccoon faced dog is a real creature living in the region of Japan around the Amur river. It is Canis viverriuns, nyctereutes or procionides, that belongs to the dog family. The photo at the left depicts a 19th century wood netsuke (3.1 cm high) of a Tanuki by Ikkan, that is affectionately know as Odanuki-san. Odanuki is our domain name and means honorable or big Tanuki in Japanese.

In Japanese folklore the Tanuki has physical strength far above normal and great supernatural powers. It can change shape at will. As a goblin, the Tanuki is a peculiarly mischievous creature taking all sorts of disguises to waylay, deceive or annoy travelers. Standing by the road side on its hindlegs, it distends its belly (or rather scrotum) and strikes it with its forepaws as a drum (see photos). In a priestly disguise, the Tanuki wraps itself in lotus leaves, with a lotus flower doing duty as hat. The Tanuki is also depicted in a fox like form, playing wonderful, crazy and dangerous pranks with his enormous scrotum, which measures in size exactly eight tatami mats.

Because of its pot belly, the Tanuki is associated with two other figures with large stomachs, the Fugu (blow) fish and Hotei, the fat, hilarious God of Luck. The famous Shogun, Ieyasu Tokugawa, was irreverently referred to as Furu Tanuki, old Badger. In present day Japan, a statue of a Tanuki is often stationed outside of a shop or restaurant, beckoning to customers to visit the establishment. Any resemblance between the Tanuki and the proprietor of Tanuki Enterprises is completely coincidental.

An article in the July 29, 1998 issue of The Japan Times describes the real life Tanuki.

Tanuki Soba

Soba or buckwheat noodles is a Japanese equivalent of Western fast food. Is is brownish grey broth of Japanese style noodles served with a variety of ingredients. It is very popular among the Japanese, who consume it in large quantities in countless noodle shops, most of them not much larger than a Western walk-in closet, throughout Japan. Part of the join of eating soba is being able to make loud, slurping noises without being impolite.

One variety of soba is Tanuki Soba and it is pictured below on the left. At the right is the proprietor of Tanuki Enterprises eating a bowl of steaming hot Tanuki Soba in a noodle shop in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo.