Tanuki to the rescue! This mid nineteenth-century image is called "Namazu Gourd Balls" (Namazu hyôtan kintama), and shows a tanuki attempting to pin down the catfish with his gourd-like scrotum. Notice that the tanuki is human except for the face. He and his companions are an example of the notion that there can be good tanuki as well as bad ones.

For more on gourds, click here.

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