Monster Raccoon Dog

Animals in Japanese / Names List / Starting with M

Translation

The Japanese word for "Monster Raccoon Dog" is bakedanuki 化け狸.

  • "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.
  • 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.
Romaji ba ke da nu ki
Hiraganaばけだぬき
Katakanaバケダヌキ
Kanji 化 狸
Meaning Monster Raccoon Dog
School Level 小３ ✕

Trivia

  • 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]
Tanuki in Human Form
Tanuki in Human Form
anime: Uchouten Kazoku 有頂天家族
Futatsuiwa Mamizou 二ッ岩 マミゾウ
Futatsuiwa Mamizou 二ッ岩 マミゾウ
game: Touhou 東方
Leaves Surrounding Tanuki Shapeshifting
Leaves Surrounding Tanuki Shapeshifting
anime: Uchouten Kazoku 有頂天家族

Beware: some kanji that are difficult to handwrite are easy to type on the computer, which may skew the usage statistics.

Further Reading

Wikipedia: 化け狸
  1. Super Leaf - mariowiki.com, accessed .
  2. Mamizou Futatsuiwa - touhouwiki.net, accessed .
Bulldog, Dog Salmon, Entlebuche Cattle Dog, Entlebucher Mountain Dog, Hunting Dog, Japanese Raccoon Dog, Raccoon Dog, koinu 子犬, tategami-inu 鬣犬.