A statue of the mischievous raccoon dog Kincho and its story (9 photos)

A statue of a funny animal in an unusual format proudly towers over this city park.





In a quiet park in the small port town of Komatsushima on the east coast of the Japanese island of Shikoku, a concrete statue about 4.5 meters high of a huge raccoon dog with a lantern, known in Japan as a tanuki, towers over locals playing croquet there. The statue depicts a little-known Japanese animal called a tanuki. In other cultures, the word is used to refer not only to the raccoon dog, but to traditional Japanese werebeasts in general.



Proud Kincho

When a tourist looks sufficiently puzzled and hovers in front of the sculpture, one of the local athletes may come up and demonstrate a special feature of this public art installation. If you stand directly in front of the tanuki and clap your hands together as if in prayer, a motion-sensitive sensor activates pumps. They start a large waterfall that cascades over the cliff behind the adorable animal.





Small ceramic tanuki figures are common throughout Japan. Typically dressed in straw hats and holding a jug of liquor, they attract the attention of patrons at drinking establishments. But in the city of Komatsushima, tanuki sculptures are an exception and have reached monumental heights. Hundreds of tanuki figures of various sizes are scattered throughout the city. These are not your typical mischievous drunkard tanuki - they are usually dressed as warriors in shogunal helmets and samurai armor.



Tanuki come in different varieties

The version explaining such a severe and unusual image of the animal is due to a legend. Once a mischievous tanuki was captured: he was caught and tortured by cruel children. A famous general who was passing by saved the tanuki.



But all are nice

In gratitude for saving him, he changed his cunning nature, became kind to everyone and turned into a famous general, known as Kincho. Kincho led the local army to a large number of victories, for which he was awarded this unusual monument in the center of the city park.