Rascally Raccoons

Tonight, while out on our balcony, I saw a raccoon dog, called tanuki (狸) over here, crossing the road 20 metres above the ground on an electricity cable... in the middle of Tokyo.

This isn't the first time. I also saw one around the corner a few months back, though most of my Japanese mates poo-hoo the thought since we live just 15 minutes by train from Shibuya. Others say tanuki do in fact live here in the city because it's warmer and there's more food, and I'm pretty sure I know what I saw.

For me these are the coolest critters, when you grow up (like I did) back in Australia with possums and their guttural noises, though I know raccoons are just as disregarded by many North Americans.

Still, they're better than squirrels. Having been bitten by a particularly cute squirrel in Central Park, one that looked like a hand-puppet but was actually an evil little tyrant, I think I have a good grasp on the comparison.

Here in Japan the local raccoon dog is historically regarded a little differently. For starters the wild tanuki has disproportionately large testicles, a feature that has inspired humorous exaggeration in artistic depictions.

In old stories (and some more recent brethren) they're reputed to be mischievous and jolly, a master of disguise and shapeshifting, but somewhat gullible and absent-minded.


For starters there's the yarn "Kachi-kachi Yama" which features a tanuki that wallops an old lady and then serves up her to the unsuspecting husband as soup.

To get a good feel of the raccoon in Japanese culture, check out Seijun Suzuki's whimsical musical Princess Raccoon (オペレッタ狸御殿, 2005) or the Studio Ghibli anime Pom Poko (平成狸合戦ぽんぽこ, 1994).

I picked up my copy of the latter from Madman in Australia.

Ahhhh, the little rascals.

Japan Women's National Figure Skating Championships

Let it be known first and foremost before you venture further here: I'm absolutely not interested in sports.

The most sport I've actually participated in is an ad hoc round of tennis once every three or four years, an annual game of ten-pin bowling, Yoyogi Park soccer and/or volleyball for birthday parties, and the long-lost days in Australia when I watched the test cricket on the telly, preferably with beer(s) in hand and mates nearby to distract my wayward attention.

I've never skied or snowboarded; the only real time I tried to go skiing (in Gunma in Nagano a few years back), the kids there were so good that I renounced my intentions and found instead an onsen to pickle myself in. I'm from Australia, not the best place really for snow, but I'd been ice skating a handful of times in Melbourne and Stockholm (where I almost cut someone's throat open with my wildly kicking skate as I flipped over).

So who would've figured that I'd end up gripping my seat, enamoured with skinny Japanese girls skating about?

Yet that's exactly what I was doing last night with my wife Yoko, during the Japan women's national figure skating championships down in Osaka (December 27).

The skaters here vied for the two available places in the Japanese national team for 2010's Vancouver Olympics (Miki Ando had already attained the third slot).

So you had the likes of Mao Asada (Mai Asada's sister, definitely a local favourite, and the scion of a helluva lot of TV advertising) skating against long-time stalwart Yukari Nakano and the up-and-coming Akiko Suzuki, pictured above and, at almost 25, one of the oldest in the field but also a vibrant highlight in recent events.

Personally I'm an Asada fan and have really grown to love Suzuki's exuberance and flair, while having been an Ando supporter since her struggles at the previous Olympics - and all three, as of last night, have qualified for Vancouver as Asada and Suzuki came first and second respectively.

Although she didn't qualify, one of the absolute highlights of the Osaka get-together was Kanako Murakami (below), who turned 15 just last month and is a refreshing mix of quirkiness, talent and bubbly innocence. Expect big things from this kid in the next Olympics.


Unfortunately someone had to miss out, and this time around (much like four years ago) it was again Nakano.

Sports. Bah, humbug.