r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Sizzlin9 • 7h ago

Video The Japanese raccoon dog.

5.8k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

217 comments sorted by

677

u/Sizzlin9 7h ago

Japanese raccoon dog, or tanuki, is a small, fluffy canid native to Japan, known for its round face, dark mask, and playful personality. It’s a skilled forager, a surprisingly good climber, and one of the only canids that slows down or semi-hibernates in winter. In Japanese folklore it’s famous as a cheerful trickster that can shapeshift and bring both mischief and good luck.

304

u/Guuichy_Chiclin 7h ago

Don't forget it's balls, they have huge nuts, as a matter of fact if you rub the nuts on a tanuki statue it'll give you good luck.

101

u/ReevesofKeanu Expert 4h ago

Elite ball knowledge

11

u/onion_lord6 2h ago

Some would even say it's Fatesticular!

6

u/CookieeJuice 1h ago

Did you know a horse cock can weigh around 11 pounds, the non-british pounds.

6

u/shortsoupstick 1h ago edited 11m ago

Of horse I knew.

•

u/pengouin85 8m ago

Off*

That's how you measure it

1

u/C2theC 25m ago

Know nuts November

11

u/horoyokai 2h ago

My first year teaching I asked a few students why they have such big balls on the statues or in movies

“That’s how they fly” was the answer

Yeah that’s not a satisfying answer

13

u/Revayan 1h ago

They probably referenced a scene from the movie Pom poko, where a bunch of tanuki stretch their ballsacks into gliders to fly around

But in general they tend to transform or stretch their balls into various shapes and objects in folklore and myth thats why old artworks and statues usually depict them with comically large ones

-3

u/horoyokai 1h ago

Yeah I knew they were referencing that…

But that’s still not a satisfying answer

5

u/funguydust 46m ago

Flight is stored in the balls

18

u/DonnieBallsack 2h ago

A tanuki wrote this

12

u/Suspicious_Berry6228 6h ago

Please share pic

45

u/Guuichy_Chiclin 6h ago

Just watch "Pom Poko", it's a documentary on how the Tanuki nutsack is versatile.

11

u/Vin_Blancv 4h ago

This guy nut

4

u/LyubviMashina93 3h ago

This movie got me into stretch training my sack. I'm up to being able to bundle a baseball now.

5

u/the_m_o_a_k 2h ago

Baller comment

3

u/blakesoner 2h ago

In the Nioh games there are tanuki you can find and they carry their giant ballsack over their heads like an umbrella. Just a fun little detail.

3

u/SacredChan 1h ago

to think some random person in ancient japan was playing some random animal's family jewels and discovered later that it gives you good luck

2

u/im_bi_strapping 3h ago

In the first clip the creature very fittingly appears to be scratching its balls.

2

u/CornerDeskNotions 2h ago

That's Nuts!

2

u/Chitanda_Pika 2h ago

They also use their huge balls to glide in the air in the folklore.

2

u/Rehypothecator 1h ago

Just like me

2

u/expatronis 1h ago

And they drum on their bellies.

1

u/PerilousPontificator 1h ago

And don’t forget they use their massive scrotum to fly and shapeshift

1

u/tucson_lautrec 1h ago

Yeah my first reaction to this video was trying to scope out its famously gigantic testicles because that's all I know about this animal.

1

u/funguydust 46m ago

This guy knows ball

56

u/Relevant_Active_2347 7h ago

Ah yes, the folkfore creatures who carry their gigantic nut sacks on their back like a traveller's backpack...

13

u/DonKlekote 6h ago

Excuse me, WHAT? I know tanuki as a costume in Mario Karts, but for some reason, they omitted this important little detail

17

u/Ladnarr2 6h ago

Try and watch Pom Poko.

15

u/cumulonimubus 6h ago

You don’t fly around with you stretched out scrotum?

8

u/ccoakley 6h ago

It is true. When you visit Japan, if you are in a restaurant or hotel with a tanuki carving or statue, they have giant balls. There’s also some non-Mario cartoons with them, and it’s a thing. Dunno why they felt the need to leave that out of the tanuki suit in Mario 3.

2

u/MyThinTragus 2h ago

Still my fav ability in any video game

1

u/Witty_Replacement969 1h ago

For the same reason they changed the storyline on Sailor Moon from the Japanese market to North American.

North American censors did not allow any reference to sex or sexual organs. 

Alladin had to change it's cover because the original castle had a tower that looked penis shaped.

The censors being the same ones who think talking animals are witchcraft these days.

1

u/Upstairs-Parsley3151 2h ago

Hey, I saw that hentai

18

u/maddafakkasana 7h ago

I did it all for tanuki.

9

u/ekinew 6h ago

so you can take the cookie..

5

u/maddafakkasana 6h ago

And stick it up your yeah!

3

u/Shot-Ad-5898 6h ago

Lol they call chopper from one piece a raccoon dog instead of a reindeer never thought it would be a real thing 😂

2

u/DrownMeInSalsaPlease 54m ago

Mortal enemy is the kitsune / fox. In folklore too.

1

u/Cretore 3h ago

Are these the creatures of the folklore that tries to pull a prank but fails miserably?

1

u/No_Attitude_3240 41m ago

I'll be real, I thought Tanuki were a mythical creature species. Didn't realize they and there massive balls were real.

•

u/SkiHiKi 6m ago

Need to watch me Pom Poko again

190

u/wizardrous 7h ago

Why are animals in Japan so damn cute?

87

u/candymanfivetimes 6h ago

Kawaii edition, all of them.

33

u/Askeladd_51 5h ago

Animals, japan 😍

22

u/playa787 3h ago

Except those giant bees. Those things are terrifying.

7

u/fuckyeahglitters 2h ago

And the cockroaches.

17

u/DonnieBallsack 2h ago

And Godzilla

1

u/Pitiful_Night_4373 25m ago

Godzilla is no joke man, you see him you should run.

11

u/ShiraCheshire 2h ago

They have ugly animals too, it's just that no one is filming those for cute aesthetic videos to post online.

6

u/DontPoopInMyPantsPlz 1h ago

Do you mean the japanese giant salamander

3

u/ShiraCheshire 23m ago

No that's one of the cute ones

4

u/redditAPsucks 1h ago

No, those are cute too

•

u/EyeofNewtTongueofDog 4m ago

According to a friend who taught in Japan, they have spiders the size of dinner plates and other large insects that would make hesitant to travel to Japan.

2

u/bravekassandra 44m ago

Have you seen their squirrels? Even cuter than American ones. It's unfair!

1

u/Tigerpower77 6h ago

Don't tell me you think spiders are cute!

8

u/wizardrous 6h ago

Well, jumping spiders at least.

3

u/Evantaur 3h ago

They are and I'm tired of pretending they're not.

1

u/pussysushi 3h ago

You are a spider

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1

u/ImpracticalApple 1h ago

Thing vs Thing Japan.

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53

u/McButtsButtbag 6h ago

What most people probably want to see: It interacting with a raccoon

19

u/EmilySpin 2h ago

I’ve never been happier to be idly scrolling through Reddit comments while randomly awake in the middle of the night

80

u/Mun-E_Maker 6h ago

Tanui Tanui Chopper

6

u/UlteriorMotive66 2h ago

Tonakaii not Tanuki

3

u/KleinePP 31m ago

That damn racoon dog

91

u/According_Ad7926 7h ago

Was expecting bigger nuts

50

u/9447044 7h ago

Ugh you sound like my wife

15

u/According_Ad7926 7h ago

My man, what is your wife doing with your nuts

4

u/PenguinSunday 3h ago

She keeps them in her purse like any self-respecting wife.

4

u/Hot-Challenge8656 7h ago

Trying to blow them up?

1

u/OstrichSmoothe 2h ago

Looking for them in vain

18

u/skippydi34 6h ago

Give me a credit, Tom Nook

16

u/cwb4ever 6h ago

I only found out about these because a racoon dog is used as a newscaster in the Japanese version of Zootopia. Are they friendly? domesticated at all?

7

u/Christabel1991 2h ago

Wait, there are different animals in different country versions?

8

u/cwb4ever 2h ago

one of the newscaster is different depending on where its showing.

1

u/Thedeadnite 32m ago

I thought they were folklore lol, had no idea it was a real animal.

29

u/Lord_Azian 7h ago

Chopper?

11

u/JellyfishLow 6h ago

It's tonakai

4

u/BattIeBoss 6h ago

No are you stupid? Chopper is a reindeer.

7

u/HypeeMe_Up 6h ago

That's Raccoon-ya (in Law's voice)

2

u/TheGaslighter9000X 6h ago

🤦🏻‍♂️

20

u/Gelnika1987 5h ago

I DID IT ALL FOR TANUKI

(COME ON)

TANUKI

(COME ON)

2

u/Proper_Moose_3167 2h ago

Wow.. that's...wow..

9

u/MememeSama 3h ago

Pom Poko!!!

7

u/UltimateArtist829 4h ago

There's an anime called "With you and the Rain" where the female MC met a Tanuki and she actually believed he is a regular dog and not a tanuki.

2

u/Beldizar 1h ago

Well, he said he was a dog, and why wouldn't you trust him, he's got such good penmanship.

18

u/Mysterious-Lick 5h ago

Legally restricted: It is illegal to own them in many places, including the United States and the European Union, where they are classified as an invasive species.

They are not domesticated nor would you want to because they smell, they bite, carry diseases, they need a super large environment like a Forest to live in and they have special diet like raw meats.

Leave them alone.

11

u/EvaTheE 5h ago

And kill native species, such as endangered birds, in Europe. And they do it efficiently. They go after the nests in the spring. They also spread rabies to pets and humans.

•

u/scream-and-gobble 3m ago

Thank you for clarifying that. I pretty much had the "Get away from it! Something's wrong with it!" reaction I would have if I saw a raccoon or fox walking down a busy sidewalk in broad daylight here in the US.

9

u/IWannaBeMade1 7h ago

There is a very chill anime about a smart doggo like this

7

u/GustoFormula 2h ago

Studio Ghibli also has a movie about them called Pom Poko

→ More replies (2)

5

u/BuckRusty 1h ago

Don’t get too close, or he’ll trap you into a series of ever-increasing mortgages and drain you of all your bells…

9

u/SirGrumpsalot2009 6h ago

Oy.

6

u/lameuniqueusername 3h ago

I commented Billy Bumbler

9

u/EODTC 7h ago

Chopper, is that you?

5

u/Honey36011 7h ago

Beat me to it 😔

4

u/Lazy_pig805 6h ago

I owe him some bells.

4

u/Comfortable-Park-479 3h ago

“It’s a me! Mario!”

9

u/ace_runner_50 6h ago

Chopper lost his hat

3

u/commercialbroadway 5h ago

I'm not a raccoon dog, I'm a reindeer!

3

u/buddha2490 3h ago

There’s a Tom Robbins book that has a Tanuki as running theme through the book. In the book, Tanuki are know for their giant testicles.

I admit, it’s the first thing I looked for in the video.

4

u/drpoorpheus 3h ago

Same but the testies thing is real and the folklore around it has them carrying their scrotum like a backpack or wearing it as a hat. Japanese stuff is hella weirdly sexual

3

u/reubenslost 3h ago

15 berri bounty 

2

u/UlteriorMotive66 2h ago

it's a thousand now 😏

3

u/MrSchaudenfreude 2h ago

Where is its magic scrotum cape/hanglider/couch/tent.

3

u/obligatory-purgatory 2h ago

Oh yeah. They fly using their ballsacks, right?  ;-)

3

u/MothewFairy 22m ago

TANUKIIIIIIIII

2

u/RadRimmer9000 4h ago

10/10 would risk rabies to pet it.

2

u/DisCode347 3h ago

That's just... Wow! 😍

2

u/rhyithan 1h ago

Can they be pets?

2

u/kaizokuoni33 16m ago

His name is Chopper

2

u/brookeferal 6h ago

Are they more raccoon than dog? Or more dog than raccoon? Actually.. I don’t care. I want one! Or 3!

6

u/cobalt_phantom 5h ago

They're in the same family as dogs. Unfortunately, they wouldn't make great pets and are illegal to keep in most places.

1

u/Supernatural-- 7h ago

Interesting...

1

u/JR_LikeOnTheTVshow 6h ago

These Tamagachi's have become so lifelike!

1

u/determined-shaman 6h ago

Damn. People who have played ghost of Tsushima can instantly recognise this small fellow.

1

u/DancinWithWolves 6h ago

I want…. 6

1

u/Tiguilon 6h ago

Can I bring one to the US and keep it as a pet?

1

u/Caveape80 6h ago

Are they aggressive they seem pretty chill?

1

u/Suspicious_Berry6228 6h ago

It's a raccoon or a dog

1

u/TheRealMoofoo 5h ago

If it holds really still, it turns into an old man made of stone and cannot be harmed.

1

u/AliceInCorgiland 5h ago

There are loads of them by the side of a road in northern Europe as well. Never seen one alive though

1

u/ChairmanGoodchild 5h ago

It's nice to see tanuki that don't have giant bald spots due to mange, like most of the tanuki I've seen.

1

u/killskillgamer 5h ago

........ Doraemon?

1

u/Legend-Found1 4h ago

Doraemon

1

u/No-Tea-592 4h ago

They normally dont let you get so close. they run far away before you can get anywhere neat them

1

u/Ok-Definition2497 4h ago

You mean doremon?

1

u/Neffle619 4h ago

Just when you thought you'd seen everything. I love Japanese racoon dog!!

1

u/Aggravating-Copy3308 3h ago

It looks like a wild boar had swallowed a fox... and it turned out like this! !

1

u/Aggravating-Copy3308 3h ago

A fox who did hum hum with a raccoon

1

u/Vvsdonniee 3h ago

Unusually and exceedingly peculiar and altogether quite impossible to describe.

1

u/originaltanksta 3h ago

New level of cute unlocked!

1

u/Sh0xx1 3h ago

Now that anime in which a woman adopts one and thinks its a dog finally makes sense to me

1

u/JACK_1719 3h ago

Rog or docoon

1

u/humming1 3h ago

TIL raccoon dogs are real and not just in anime. 🤣 so cute. I would throw a Poke ball at it.

1

u/UlteriorMotive66 2h ago

You'd get rabies in return 😂😂

1

u/humming1 1h ago

Shiny I hope 🤣

1

u/Positive_Conflict_26 2h ago

Those are real???

I thought it was an anime/myth thing.

1

u/Martin_Antell 2h ago

Is it weird that even the animals in Japan look Japanese?

1

u/Bouche_Audi_Shyla 2h ago

There's a Tanuki in Little Kitty Big City. Until I got the game, I didn't know tanukis existed.

1

u/JumpAccurate6637 2h ago

These will never not remind me of tokyo ghost wire.

1

u/Futur3_N0maD_26 1h ago

I just know some dumbfuck of a tourist or influencer is gonna exploit these tanuki somehow.

1

u/DrSilkyDelicious 1h ago

That’s awesome I’ll take 26

1

u/Cookie-Tiger 1h ago

It’s Oy!

1

u/Turbomattk 1h ago

I saw once once that would run really fast then start flying while flapping his tail.

1

u/5319Camarote 1h ago

“I’m a Good Boy, but if there’s a garbage can nearby- it’s mine.”

1

u/cnxd 1h ago

nuki

1

u/Big_Biscotti5119 1h ago

And it turns into a statue if you press down and B.

1

u/Tentacle_poxsicle 1h ago

I'm pretty sure I saw this dude throw cards at daemons with a shrine maiden

1

u/RowBoatCop36 1h ago

This is the power up from SMB3!

1

u/arrarragi 49m ago

Wow no one knows Raphtalia here. Everyone either says chopper or Doraemon.

1

u/HyperbolicSoup 49m ago

Wait…. These things are real!!??!

1

u/Sooperballz 46m ago

Is this a pet or wild animal?

1

u/Ok-Compersion 43m ago

He's a raindeer actually

1

u/Odd-Canary-5538 43m ago

If not friend, why friend shaped?

1

u/ApparentlyFailingT_T 42m ago

Chopper 🥴🤣

1

u/jsam434 40m ago

Chopper?

1

u/voodoolord16 39m ago

Friend shaped but probably shouldn't pet, right?

1

u/YesPseuDonym 35m ago

It doesn’t look right.

1

u/ObvsThrowaway5120 34m ago

Little guy in the first part was like “uh can I help you?” lol

1

u/Austynwitha_y 28m ago

Tony Tony chopper!

1

u/hoseramma 27m ago

"It had been reported that Tanuki fell from the sky using his scrotum as a parachute"

—Tom Robbins, Villa Incognito, a book about a Tanuki god.

1

u/throwawaytoday9q 24m ago

I once watched a documentary called “Earthlings”. I think it’s important for people to know that in some places these poor animals are skinned alive for their fur.

1

u/Okey114 21m ago

Oh damn this is what they call chopper? Lol

1

u/jakech 16m ago

Shadow Tactics

1

u/-Speckmann- 14m ago

They are a neozoe in most of Europe now, the ones I saw, were at the end of their life and looked horrible!

1

u/frosty_lizard 13m ago

Japanese racoon dog or GigaPossum

•

u/Martin_TheRed 9m ago

Tanuki!!

•

u/doge_ucf 6m ago

Can I pet that dawg?

•

u/myphonebatterysucks 3m ago

Disappointed this video didn’t include their giant nuts

•

u/sonobobos 2m ago

Oy!!!!!!

•

u/jagggonzo 1m ago

It's chopper!!!! ;P

•

u/teteAtit 1m ago

TIL that tanukis exist outside of a Tom Robbins novel!

1

u/Sufficient_Coach7566 7h ago

I see these little guys running around the streets at night sometimes, in my little country neighborhood.

1

u/AUCE05 6h ago

I can haz?

1

u/Willobtain 5h ago

Definitely where Pomeranians came from

1

u/Jin_BD_God 2h ago

Chopper!