Tanuki

Here’s a photo of me with some Tanuki in Kyoto – they’re an omnipresent piece of kitsch in many of the parts of Japanland we visited.

What’s a “Tanuki?” I finally looked it up:

(abridged)

“Tanuki statues are found everywhere around Japan, especially outside restaurants and bars, where the Tanuki beckons drinkers and dinners to enter. The beckoning Tanuki is most often depicted with a big round tummy, gigantic testicles, a flask of sake, a promissory note, and a straw hat.”

Also, according to this disturbingly unappetizing Japanese legend, “[Tanuki] can cast powerful illusions -- they can turn leaves into fake money or horse excrement into a delicious-looking dinner.”

I think it’s better to stick to one of those waving cats.