Raccoon dog

狸 tanuki

Raccoon dog

The name sounds like 'ta-nuki', getting ahead of others, so the tanuki is a charm for business success; a jolly, shape-shifting folk figure.

Folklore since early times; Shigaraki statues from the 20th century

The tanuki is a shape-shifting trickster of Japanese folklore. Lucky tanuki figures date from the late 19th century, and the familiar Shigaraki-ware statue with straw hat, sake flask and promissory note was standardised by the potter Fujiwara Tetsuzō, who settled in Shigaraki in 1936. When Emperor Hirohito visited in 1951 the town lined the route with flag-waving tanuki, and press coverage made them a national symbol. The name is read as a pun on 'outdoing others' (ta o nuku).

Tanuki statues stand outside shops and restaurants as charms for business.

Technique catalog · draft for review

Every way to wrap, carry and wear a furoshiki.

The furoshiki.com archive, sliced into annotated steps with plain directions, plus techniques found in research.