Typhoon Tanuki
I’m sitting here, next to the TV, waiting to fall asleep and wake up to the sound of the typhoon which will start to nail Tokyo around 6:00AM. I had a nice talk with my sister on the phone, it had been a while since we spoke. Since it’s Nintendo’s 20th anniversary(I think), they’ve been releasing old NES games for the Gameboy Advance every few weeks. Tomorrow, as far as I know, will be the release of the next set of ten classic games, of which include Adventure Island, which my sister has requested. I’m still addicted to the original NES Zelda which I bought a few weeks ago. I miss English games though, my Japanese reading skills are really slow, so playing a game like an RPG is just not going to happen. Because of this, I’ve grown a taste for games with few words, basically puzzle games and these NES re-releases.
I cooked tofu and sprouts for dinner tonight, I’ve been trying to diet more, as my coworkers said I’m getting fat. So I’ve been very self conscious recently because of this(most of my friends here say I look the same as always…), so I’ve decided to cut out all the sweets and goodies I snack on all day. I need to start working out again, maybe I’ll get a new pair of running shoes and go out in the morning. It’s just so hard to resist all these tasty things here!!! Delicious scallop flavored crackers, fried octopus balls, and green tea flavored potato cakes! THERE IS NO WAY TO RESIST THESE THINGS!!!
Oh ya, so my Australian friend John asked me my favorite question today, “What’s a tanuki?” Glad you asked. A tanuki is a creature in Japanese mythology which looks like a raccoon with two giant testicles. In fact, these testicles are bigger than it’s head in many depictions. While at Narita airport, I found a little book called, “Gulliver’s Travels,” which had nothing to do with Gulliver and everything to do with Japanese mythology. In this book, there are several types of tanuki. The one which frightens me the most, is indeed the one which can pull it’s nut-sack over it’s head as a cover when it rains. The tanuki with the generally large nuts, is said to be good luck, so you’ll see it in front of restaurants here and there. This brings back good memories. I’ll never forget when my friend, walking past one for the first time, and in complete and utter shock, pointed at the giant hanging orbs dangling from this giant raccoon statue’s nether-regions. Another priceless moment of cultural discovery in Japan. To conclude, and to answer John’s question, a tanuki is a raccoon with giant balls.
