So, a few weeks ago I cycled to one of my favorite places Kasai Rinkai Park. It’s basically at the mouth of the Arakawa River. After sitting at the well known benches where a lot of cyclist sit and hydrate I took off to go past the bird sanctuary. It was just then that I saw a Tanuki, which some call a raccoon dog. It’s rare to see them and they are supposed to bring good luck. I was in shock when I saw it and I wasn’t sure what to do but I quickly filmed it before it disappeared into some bushes. Nowadays Tanuki are bred for their fur to make brushes.
It had a stick in its mouth. We were starting at each other before it casually walked away into the bushes It was a weird moment. A lot of thoughts were inside my mind. I can be a little superstitious. I thought hat it has to be a sign for something. Some sort of premonition but what? I wondered what would happen.
It’s common in Japan to see statutes of Tanuki in front of Izakaya, bars or restaurants in Japan. The weird thing about them is that their scrotum are usually large. Why I don’t know. From what I was able to read about them, as far as being good luck. In the past Tanuki skin was used to smash gold dust into think layers. Which is why they are probably associated with good luck.
I thought I had seen another one but by the time I was able to get my iPhone ready to film it, it had already just made it to the edge of some shrubs. I was lucky to film it. After that I took off and thought about what had happened during the rest of my ride. I also thought that it would make the subject of a short story. Hopefully, I’ll receive some good luck.