Pop Japan

Racoon dogs which can be found all throughout Japan are called Tanukis.

According to folk stories, this animal can transform itself into a human or sometimes an object. Because of this, tanukis are actually considered as gods in Japanese folklore. But upon the arrival of Buddhism, the tanukis, being animals which are not depicted with Buddha, seemed to have lost their divinity. Because of this, their power to transform has been seen as something evil or yokai. But because of their cute appearance, they are considered more as foolish animals than monsters.

A good film to understand more about tanukis is Pom Poko from Studio Ghibli. It depicts a group of racoon dogs who joined forces to fight humans who wanted to destroy their natural habitat.

Photo by 663highland. Licensed under Creative Commons. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en)

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