Valentine’s Day Picts

My last chance to post something contemporaneous for V-day (no, not the WWII one). The first shows 1,000 candles in front of Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse (Yokohama, Japan) as part of a promo event. Neat. I wish I had a high res picture of that, without all the annoying people in the way as well.

The second one is sweet: a touching reminder of the universality of love and the affirmation that although there may seem to be a fundamental rift between Western and Muslim culture, there are still commonalities. And that’s totally a man under that burka.

Tanuki

There’s a famous children’s song in Japan,

Tan-tan-tanuki no kintama wa
kaze mo nai no ni:
“bu-ra” “bu-ra”

It roughly translates to “Look at the tanuki’s balls. There’s no wind, but they’re still swinging” (bu-ra is the sound it makes). This is really the only kids song I know in Japanese, but it’s all I need!

Tanuki (Nyctereutes procyonoides), commonly translated as “racoon dog”, is a canid with a build that resembles a Welsh corgie, and markings that resemble a badger or racoon. Their role in Japanese folklore is pretty similar to that of kitsune (“foxes”) in that they are shape shifting tricksters.

For an excellent (though animated) look at them, I recommend Heisei Tanuki Gassen Pon Poko (or just “Pom Poko“), by Studio Ghibli.

There are tanuki statues everywhere in Japan. They’re often outside of businesses/restaurants, as they are for luck I believe. Here are some of the ones I’ve captured.