bakedanuki 化け狸

Translation

bakedanuki means "Monster Raccoon Dog" in English.

"Monster"?

A bakedanuki 化け狸 is a folkloric "Raccoon Dog," tanuki タヌキ, that is a "monster," youkai 妖怪, and that can "transform," bakeru 化ける, into people and things.
Tanuki Leaf

The bakedanuki are sometimes portrayed with a tree leaf on top of their heads, which may be related to their shapeshifting abilities. By the way, "leaf" in Japanese is happa 葉っぱ, a "tree leaf" is konoha 木の葉, and "to place on" is noseru 乗せる.
タヌキ vs. キツネ

According to the legends, the spirit tanuki are better skilled at transforming than the spirit "Foxes"," kitsune. Furthermore, the tanuki transforms to prank Humans, while the kitsune transforms to tempt humans.

bakedanuki written with kanji is 化け狸.
This word contains non-jouyou kanji 常用漢字.

bakedanuki written with katakana is バケダヌキ.
bakedanuki written with hiragana is ばけだぬき.

tanuki たぬき becomes danuki だぬき in this word because of a change in pronunciation called rendaku.

Starting with Super Mario Bros. 3, picking up the "Super Tree Leaf" item, suupaa konoha スーパーこのは, turns you into a tanuki.^[1]
Futatsuiwa Mamizou 二ッ岩マミゾウ of the Touhou 東方 series is a bakedanuki.^[2]

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