61
Raccoon balls (hexbear.net)
submitted 3 days ago by EveningCicada@hexbear.net to c/art@hexbear.net
NSFW 30 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I tried to look it up: These depictions began to appear during the Edo era (1603-1868) and, as far as I can tell, it's not entirely known why they had these gargantuan ballsacks.

Their skin, used by artisans, was known for it's great elasticity. In Japanese folklore, the tanuki are capable of shapeshifting.

In Japan today, tanuki statues are often placed outside establishments such as restaurants, and are said to bring good fortune.

Real raccoons do not have enormous balls.

TLN: ~~keikaku means plan~~ Tanuki means raccoon

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[-] Blakey@hexbear.net 22 points 3 days ago

"tanuki" is used for raccoons, but the actual Japanese animal is called the "raccoon dog" in english. They're kinda like if a fox was wearing a raccoon disguise.

[-] Oskolki@hexbear.net 14 points 3 days ago

Tanuki is specifically (Nyctereutes viverrinus) in Japanese they call it Tanuki.

The Common [This is to distinguish it from general "Raccoon Dog" which includes Tanuki, the Japanese Raccoon Dog.] Raccoon Dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) is native to East Asia.

During USSR it was introduced to European continent. As of now, it has become classified an invasive species.

And these animals also have nothing to do with raccoons, they're closer to foxes. Which is also known for it's shape-shifting ability in Japanese culture, but unlike the fox which is seen as bourgeoise, the tanuki is more simple minded and aloof using it's disguise for trickery and playful mischief, where as foxes tend to use it for boosting their own image and manipulation. You can see this being portrayed in pop culture, such as the mega hit Naruto or lesser known: Brand New Animal

[-] EveningCicada@hexbear.net 8 points 3 days ago

Huh, I didn't know they were different animals. TIL!

[-] SerialExperimentsGay@hexbear.net 20 points 3 days ago

To complicate things further, raccoons also exist as an introduced species in Japan, but they are known as araiguma or "washing bears".

[-] tithonis@hexbear.net 3 points 2 days ago

Calqued from Waschbär in German? Apt term for them.

[-] Dort_Owl@hexbear.net 6 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I've had it backwards this whole time. I thought tanuki were raccoon dogs, you mean Tanuki just means 'raccoon'?

[-] Erika3sis@hexbear.net 8 points 3 days ago

I'm pretty sure Blakey is just wrong and you were right the whole time

{タヌキ|tanuki} = raccoon dog

{アライグマ|araiguma} = raccoon

Neither Wiktionary nor my pop-up dictionary indicate that tanuki is used in Japanese to refer to raccoons. The reverse, however, of people saying raccoon in English to mean tanuki, is very common. It could be that this is what Blakey meant but poor phrasing made it sound like the opposite.

[-] Dort_Owl@hexbear.net 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Ah, I see. Thanks. It could just be me reading their comment wrong. I do that a lot.

[-] Blakey@hexbear.net 2 points 2 days ago

Yeah, poor phrasing. "Tanuki" is the japanese raccoon dog but I believe the word is also used to refer to actual raccoons.

[-] Erika3sis@hexbear.net 2 points 2 days ago

Where have you seen this? Japanese Wikipedia writes of the raccoon (araiguma),

{タヌキ|raccoon_dog}{と|with}{誤認|mistake_for}{される|PASS.PRES}{こと|NMZ}{が|SUBJ}{多い|frequent}{が、|though,}

Although [raccoons are] frequently mistaken for raccoon dogs,

But that seems like a pretty different statement than "tanuki is also used to refer to actual raccoons". My Japanese-to-English pocket dictionary and every online dictionary in Japanese I've looked at has also not mentioned tanuki being used to refer to actual raccoons.

[-] Blakey@hexbear.net 2 points 2 days ago

Looks like I was mistaken. Whoops! Totally misremembered, it's been a while.

[-] Blakey@hexbear.net 3 points 2 days ago

No, tanuki are raccoon dogs, but afaik the word "tanuki" is also used to refer to raccoons (which are not native to Asia) in Japanese.

[-] Awoo@hexbear.net 10 points 2 days ago

A Studio Ghibli movie has these guys in them, Pom Poko. They fight cops to save the forest by parachuting in using the skin from their ballsacks as parachutes.

https://youtu.be/YFPaSIy--50

[-] HexReplyBot@hexbear.net 1 points 2 days ago

I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:

[-] tactical_trans_karen@hexbear.net 2 points 2 days ago

Tag yourself. I'm the snuggly snacky one under my ballsack blanket getting a bite of that red stuff with my other hand in a bag of chips. I'm a snack gremlin.

[-] d_cagno@hexbear.net 14 points 3 days ago

Uncritical support to tanuki using their massive balls to fight cops https://youtu.be/YFPaSIy--50

[-] Arahnya@hexbear.net 4 points 3 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

pommpoko spoilers

I love this scene but then they all die afterwards 😢

[-] AernaLingus@hexbear.net 4 points 3 days ago

FYI the spoiler tag doesn't display correctly on at least some mobile Lemmy clients if you don't put a space between the ::: and spoiler (it's okay, I've seen Pom Poko)

[-] HexReplyBot@hexbear.net 2 points 3 days ago

I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:

[-] Dort_Owl@hexbear.net 10 points 3 days ago

@TankieTanuki@hexbear.net

[-] 9to5@hexbear.net 9 points 3 days ago

Real raccoons do have enormous balls.

[-] SerialExperimentsGay@hexbear.net 7 points 3 days ago

Yeah, which means we have to deal with lugging around several kilos of microplastics between our legs. I'm glad raccoon bottom surgery is a thing, the lower back pain got pretty intense after a while.

[-] Athena5898@hexbear.net 6 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I did a dive on this a while back. For whatever reason the fortune was kind of this double thing because tanuki would help you if you helped them. But also the depictions looked like sacks so big full sack=wealth. Also. The mythical depictions can fly with them.

However it should be noticed a Tanuki is not the same as a North American raccoon. I believe, if I remeber correctly, they are not in the same family. Just wanted to clarify because I made this mistake once

[-] Robert_Kennedy_Jr@hexbear.net 5 points 2 days ago

Tanuki are in canidae.

[-] Athena5898@hexbear.net 3 points 2 days ago

Sorry got it mixed up with genus

[-] infuziSporg@hexbear.net 2 points 2 days ago

This proves that Japanese people invented the atomic wedgie, centuries before there was any concept of this in the West.

[-] bigpharmasutra@hexbear.net 3 points 2 days ago

You really undersold this post with its title.

My man out here fishing with his ball sack is a new spin on life that might actually get me to try out fishing as a relaxing hobby.

this post was submitted on 06 Apr 2026
61 points (100.0% liked)

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