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.

Yurakucho Yakitori Alley, Tokyo

Chiyoda Ward: home to over 36,000 businesses employing over 888,000 people, at least according to the stats I just found elsewhere on the Internet. I could be wrong, but at least it should give you the gist of this central location in Tokyo.

It's the nesting place of the Imperial Palace, Tokyo Station, the electronics wonderland that is Akihabara, and the insanely overpriced Ginza.

But while Ginza is Tokyo's most expensive and "fashionable" district (at least for designer brand types with fat wallets and not so much imagination) and home to brand-name stores like Chanel - and Ginza in fact competes for the title of the world's most pricey real estate - right next door there's down-and-a-wee-bit-dirty Yurakucho... home of the infamous Yakitori Alley and some awesome faux old skool Japanese movie posters as well.

And an alley it truly is, situated only five minutes from Yurakucho JR Station under the railway tracks, boasting a series of roadside shacks and open-air grottos with makeshift names like "Tanuki" (raccoon dog) that are the complete antithesis of Ginza's glitz and supposed glam.

Yakitori literally means "grilled bird", and here you'll discover every possible part of a chicken (meat, liver, skin, gizzards, heart, cartilage) shoved on wooden skewers, along with other treats like shitake mushrooms and okra. Believe it or not, it's all delectable. The liver is the part I generally demand, and you can get it dry and salty or with special sauce; your choice, depending on the mood.

A throwback to old Japan, these places are the most informal eateries in Tokyo, incredibly atmospheric and down-to-earth, great meeting places, and the best way to see how many Japanese salarymen and office ladies spend their summer evenings: Indulging in yakitori, huge mugs of beer, sake, riotous fun, falling off plastic stools, and some good old fashioned rabble-rousing.

Then you can check out the posters round the corner.

Yum.