Tanuki

A few years ago, my brother and his family were living in Tokyo. I came on a business trip and met up with him. I was telling him about the "Tanuki", a raccoon dog found in Japan. The Tanuki is thought to be mischievous and to have the ability to change shape. I had remembered seeing little Tanuki statues around and wanted to show him.

We wandered around for quite a while and never came across one of the statues. But, on this last trip, I went to a lunch place with some co-workers and saw the statue. In this case, the Tanuki had an onion in his mouth. I don't know why.