My wife found out about a "raccoon-dog" and wanted me to look it up. Remembering this word from Super Mario Bros. 3 I was more than happy to. Ok, neat little animal....kinda looks like my dog lol. Awesome folklore about it being a shape shifter like the kitsune. Then I found the funny side of the Tanuki folklore....here you go. [quote]The comical image of the tanuki having a large scrotum is thought to have developed during the Kamakura era. The actual wild tanuki has disproportionately large testicles, a feature that has inspired humorous exaggeration in artistic depictions. Tanuki may be shown with their testicles flung over their backs like travelers' packs, or using them as drums. As tanuki are also typically depicted as having large bellies, they may be depicted as drumming on their bellies instead of their testicles — particularly in contemporary art.[/quote]