Not to be confused for the raccoon, which looks similar to the tanuki but is not the same animal. A key difference is their fur color: tanuki tend to have brown fur while raccoons have grey fur.
The words "tanuki" (狸), "mujina" (貉), and "mami" (猯) were historically confused in Japan. "Mujina" and "mami" used to mean badgers in some areas, while on the other areas these terms used to mean raccoon dogs. There are some areas in which badgers were called tanuki.
In folklore, a type of tanuki called the mamedanuki (豆狸) sports comically huge testicles. Shigaraki ware, a type of traditional Japanese pottery, often depicted these tanuki. The statues depicted a mamedanuki as he transforms (or fails to transform) into an errand boy going out to buy sake at a liquor shop.
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