Raccoon Dogs

(Tanuki, )

Publishers: Kazusa-ya Iwazô and Echizen-ya Heisaburô

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.

 

Kuniyoshi%20-%20(chûban)%20Raccoon%20Dogs%20(Tanuki),%20Raccoon%20dogs%20net%20&%20Raccoon%20dogs%20on%20the%20street

 

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

Publisher’s seal: Kazusa-ya Iwazô (seal name Kamiiwa, 上岩)

Kuniyoshi%20-%20(chûban)%20Raccoon%20Dogs%20(Tanuki),%20River%20fishing%20&%20Sheltering%20from%20evening%20shower

 

Title: Tanuki no kawagari

Description: Raccoon dogs fishing in a river

Publisher’s seal: Echizen-ya Heisaburô (seal 越前屋)

 

 

Title: Tanuki no yûdachi

Description: Raccoon dogs sheltering from evening shower

Publisher’s seal: Echizen-ya Heisaburô (seal 越前屋)

 

I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this alternate state with the seal of the publisher Kazusa-ya Iwazô (seal 岩上総屋)

Kuniyoshi - (chûban) Raccoon Dogs (Tanuki), Tanuki no senkimochi (T) & Raccoon dogs as the seven lucky gods

 

Title: Tanuki no senkimochi (せんきもち)

Description: Raccoon dog suffering from senki, a disease that causes the scrotum to swell

 

Title: Tanuki no shichifukujin (狸の七福神)

Description: Raccoon dogs as five of the seven gods of good luck

Publisher’s seal: Kazusa-ya Iwazô ( かづさや)

 

Title: Tanuki no uranai (狸のうらない)

Description: A raccoon dog as a fortuneteller

Publisher’s seal: Kazusa-ya Iwazô (seal 上総屋)

 

 

Title: Tanuki no Kanban (狸のかんばん)

Description: Raccoon dogs using their scrotums as shop signs

Kuniyoshi - (chûban) Raccoon Dogs (Tanuki), Kintama chikara mochi (T) & Catfish (Namazu hyôtan kintama)

 

Title: Kindama chikaramochi

Description: Weightlifting

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title: Namazu hyôtan kintama

Description: Catching 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?

Publisher’s seal: Kazusa-ya Iwazô (seal 上総屋)

 

Title: Tanuki no sumô (狸のすもふ)

Description: Raccoon dogs as sumô wrestlers wearing their scrotums as sumô aprons

 

Title: Tanuki no mochi (狸の夜見世)

Description: A night market

Publisher’s seal: Echizen-ya Heisaburô (seal 越前屋)

 

Title: Samugari tanuki (さむがり狸) 

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

Publisher’s seal: Kazusa-ya Iwazô (seal 上総屋)

 

 

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 their own ample scrotums.

 

Title: Tanuki no dôke Daruma

Description: A raccoon dog having his scrotum painted in imitation of a Daruma doll

Publisher’s seal: Kazusa-ya Iwazô (seal 上総屋)

 

Jibiki danuki

 

Title: Tengu no mane

Description: A raccoon dog imitating a tengu using his scrotum as the tengu’s large nose

 

Title: Jibiki danuki

Description: Raccoon dogs using their scrotums as a fishing net

Publisher’s seal: Kazusa-ya Iwazô (seal 上総屋)

 

 

 

 

 

I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this alternate of the above design.

 

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

Publisher’s seal: Kazusa-ya Iwazô (seal 上総屋)

 

The raccoon dog is also known as Nyctereutes procyonoides, magnut and tanuki (タヌキ, , , or たぬき).  It is the only extant species in the genus Nyctereutes.

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