Tanuki Hunt 2025

 Friday, April 18, 2025

Our plan today was to meet with our friend, Terin, who lives in Kyoto, and who promised to show us some ceramics and other interesting things that were a bit beyond Kyoto’s city limits. We had an early lunch of delicious 7-Eleven food so we could hop in Terin’s car and go, without delay for eating. (When I say “delicious 7-Eleven food,” I am not joking. The 7-Eleven stores in Japan are ubiquitous and delicious.  I love the sandwiches and the onigiri they sell.) 

Terin said he would show us what the more rural places, on the other side of the mountains from Kyoto, were like. He also mentioned, very casually, that we might see a place that sells tanuki. I wrote about last year’s Tanuki Hunt here. I love the little tanuki I brought home last year, but it’s too small. I need another one.

Ken wanted to buy a koinibori, also. (That’s a set of carp streamers or windsocks, traditionally seen during Golden Week.)

We stopped at three or four garden centers and hardware stores, but we did not find any koinibori, even though Golden Week begins in about ten days.

We drove through an area where tea was being grown and Terin shared some of his tea expertise with us.

Little fans on the poles keep the tea plants from freezing on cold nights

At one point we saw one of those animal crossing signs, and it had a tanuki on it. I was surprised, since we weren’t that far from Kyoto. Terin confirmed that tanuki do indeed live around there and can occasionally be seen running across the road.

I wrote about last year’s Tanuki Hunt here. I love the little tanuki statue I brought home last year, but it’s too small. I need another one.

Terin said he thought we might even see a shop that sells tanuki. Just when I was beginning to think we would not find a tanuki shop, we rounded a curve, and we suddenly saw three or four stores with yards jam-packed with tanuki of all different sizes!!!

We must have seen at least a dozen shops like this as we drove through the small town of Shigaraki. We stopped at a nice shop and I pinched myself to make sure this was not a dream. Of course, Terin knew all along that we would find the motherlode of tanuki.

There were many more tanuki inside, along with other gorgeous ceramics, such as plates and bowls.

The traditional tanuki wears a straw hat, and he has a jug of sake and a book of IOU’s. Many also carry a walking stick. Occasionally you will see a tanuki carrying some other object or wearing something different. It may be a female tanuki wearing a frilly dress. Some tanuki have vicious-looking teeth. Each one seems slightly different.

You see tanuki outside the entrance to many businesses in Japan. You also see them outside homes. (In Japan, no one has to worry that their tanuki might be stolen or vandalized.) They are said to bring good luck. I don’t believe in good luck charms and I don’t believe a statue can bring good luck. However, I feel that having a tanuki outside your home sends a message of welcome, and it is a cute reminder of our travels in Japan.

I ended up buying a larger tanuki for half the price that I paid for the small one in Tokyo last year. Ken got a ceramic lantern for the backyard. We also bought a beautiful bowl. We arranged to have the shop ship the ceramics to our hotel in Yokohama so we won’t have to deal with the extra packages until we are ready to board our ship.

No, this is not the one I bought

I had mentioned to Terin that I would like to go to Lake Biwa, so he drove us there next. Lake Biwa is the largest lake in Japan. I had seen something suggesting it was a place of great natural beauty. It is famous for freshwater fish and cultured pearls.

Woodcut: Yabase Crossing and View of Lake Biwa, by Hiroshige, 1850
Museum of Fine Arts Boston

Lake Biwa was not at all what I expected. It was intensely developed and it appeared that no thought had been given to aesthetics. Access to the shoreline appeared to be limited and views were blocked by ugly multi-story buildings. Also, the traffic was quite bad - a lot of residents commute to Kyoto.

The Michigan, a Mississippi River-style paddlewheeler operates as a tourist boat on Lake Biwa

Almost small enough to take home with me

A school bus in a rural part of Shigaraki

Once back in Kyoto we started to think about dinner, and we decided to go for katsu - breaded cutlets. First you grind your sesame seeds in a suribachi - a ceramic mortar with a ridged interior.

Then you add tonkatsu sauce.

There is a sesame salad dressing for the cabbage. There is always cabbage with katsu. And you always get soup, rice, and tea.

Itadakimasu!

(Said before a meal in Japan. It means “I humbly receive.”)

Today’s fabric is a navy blue tanuki raccoon dog pattern by Japanese Indie, not currently available. 

Shabbat Shalom!