Statues of tanuki can be found outside many Japanese temples and restaurants, especially noodle shops. These statues often wear big, cone-shaped hats and carry bottles of sake in one hand, and a promissory note or empty purse in the other hand. Tanuki statues always have large bellies. The statues also usually show humorously large testicles, typically hanging down to the floor or ground, although this feature is sometimes omitted in contemporary sculpture.
A common schoolyard song in Japan makes explicit reference to the tanuki's anatomy:
Tan Tan Tanuki no kintama wa, Kaze mo nai no ni, Bura bura
Roughly translated, this means, Tan-tan-tanuki's testicles, there isn't even any wind but still go swing-swing-swing.
It continues for several verses, with many regional variations. It is sung to the melody of an American Baptist hymn called "Shall We Gather At The River?".
Is Japan a great country, or what?
