Raccoon Dogs

(Tanuki giga-e)

Publisher: Kazusa-ya Iwazô

c. 1842

This series of comic prints alludes to the supposed ability of raccoon dogs to voluntarily enlarge their scrotums. It is listed as 209 in Kuniyoshi by Basil William Robinson (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1961). Robinson translated tanuki as “badgers”, but “raccoon dogs” seems to be more correct. The images are each about 7 by 10 inches (18 by 25 centimeters), a size known as chûban. Two images were printed on a sheet of paper about 14 by 10 inches (36 by 25 centimeters), a size known as ôban.

	Title: Tanuki no amiuchi Description: A raccoon dog using his scrotum as a throw-net to catch birds Title: Tanuki no ôrai Description: Raccoon dogs coming and going on the street
	Title: Tanuki no kawagari Description: Raccoon dogs fishing in a river Title: Tanuki no yûdachi Description: Raccoon dogs sheltering from evening shower
	Title: Tanuki no senkimochi Description: Racoon dog suffering from senki, a disease that causes the scrotum to swell Title: Tanuki no shichifukujin Description: Raccoon dogs as five of the seven gods of good luck
	Title: Tanuki no uranai Description: A raccoon dog as a fortuneteller Title: Tanuki no kanban Description: Raccoon dogs using their scrotums as shop signs
	Title: Kindama chikaramochi Description: Weightlifting Title: Namazu hyôtan kintama Description: Subduing a catfish with a gourd NOTE: In Zen Buddhism, a kôan is a difficult question to ponder as an aid to meditation. Well known kôan include: What is the sound of one hand clapping?; When a tree falls in the forest and there is no one to hear it, does it make a sound?; and How do you catch a catfish with a gourd?
	Title: Tanuki no sumô Description: Raccoon dogs as sumô wrestlers wearing their scrotums as sumô aprons Title: Tanuki no mochi Description: A night stall
	Title: Samugari tanuki Description: Raccoon dogs sheltering from the cold Title: Hatsuuma no tanuki Description: Raccoon dogs as retailers celebrating the first sale of the new year by beating on a large drum
	Title: Tanuki no kokintama Description: A freak-show barker outside a shack where a raccoon dog with a small scrotum is on exhibition. The customers are elegantly draped with there own ample scrotums. Title: Tanuki no dôke Daruma Description: A raccoon dog having his scrotum painted in imitation of a Daruma doll
	Title: Tengu no mane Description: Raccoon dogs imitating tengu Title: Jibiki danuki Description: Raccoon dogs using their scrotums as a fishing net
	Title: Tanuki no urisue Description: A raccoon dog using his scrotum as a sales gimmick Title: Tanuki no hikifune Description: A raccoon dog using his scrotum as a boat
	The raccoon dog is also known as Nyctereutes procyonoides, magnut and tanuki (タヌキ, 狸, 貍, or たぬき). It is the only extant species in the genus Nyctereutes.

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