The two most deceptive creatures are the tanuki (raccoon dog) and the kitsune (fox). With three letters each, the tanuki’s ass is the same as the fox’s head. Both tanuki and kitsune are relatives of dogs. It is said that the tanuki’s power of transformation is weaker than that of the kitsune.
There is a slightly elevated forest behind my grandparents’ house. My grandmother told me that a tanuki was said to appear there.
I wanted to see it, I thought to myself as a child. In the city, the only creatures larger than a mouse are dogs, cats, crows, pigeons, and people. A raccoon is a rare character.
I went near the forest several times. My grandfather said there was a raccoon. I think I saw one, but I don’t think I did. As I recall, he half-heartedly said he could see it at the time. The mention of tanuki reminds me of that.
I often see fox masks, but not so often tanuki masks. When I looked into it, I found that tanuki masks are ugly. Some of them have beards. The illustrations are cute. Maybe they have a strong image of mischief.
Anyway, that’s what I was thinking when I created this work. I thought it was easy to make, but it was still difficult to fold the nose…
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