The Japanese name for the raccoon-dog, Nyctereuctes procyonoides. In folklore
the animal is credited with supernatural powers, including shapeshifting, money counterfeiting, and most notably of expanding its already very large scrotum to use as a drum or a weapon. Tanuki statues are a popular part of Japanese kitsch, portraying a jolly, plump little anthropomorphization of
the creature, usually with a straw hat, a bottle of sake, a purse of bills for his carousing, and of course his big wrinkly testicles dragging
on the ground between his feet.