Bake-danuki
Bake-danuki () are a kind of "yōkai" (supernatural beings) found in the classics and in the folklore and legends of various places in Japan, commonly associated with the Japanese raccoon dog or "tanuki".

Although the "tanuki" is a real, extant animal, the "bake-danuki" that appears in literature has always been depicted as a strange, even supernatural animal. The earliest appearance of the "bake-danuki" in literature, in the chapter about Empress Suiko in the "Nihon Shoki" written during the Nara period, there are such passages as "in two months of spring, there are tanuki in the country of Mutsu (), they turn into humans and sing songs (). Bake-danuki subsequently appear in such classics as the Nihon Ryōiki and the Uji Shūi Monogatari. In some regions of Japan, "bake-danuki" are reputed to have abilities similar to those attributed to "kitsune" (foxes): they can shapeshift into other things or people, and can possess human beings.

Many legends of "tanuki" exist in the Sado Islands of Niigata Prefecture and in Shikoku, and among them, like the Danzaburou-danuki of Sado, the Kinchō-tanuki and Rokuemon-tanuki of Awa Province (Tokushima Prefecture), and the Yashima no Hage-tanuki of Kagawa Prefecture, the "tanuki" that possessed special abilities were given names, and even became the subject of rituals. Apart from these places, "tanuki" are treated with special regard in a few cases.
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yōkai
Concept
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Japanese raccoon dog
Concept
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Empress Suiko
PER
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Nihon Shoki
ORG
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Nara period
Concept
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Nihon Ryōiki
ORG
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Uji Shūi Monogatari
MEDIA
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Sado Islands
LOC
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Niigata Prefecture
LOC
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Shikoku
LOC
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Danzaburou-danuki
UNK
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Kinchō-tanuki and Rokuemon-tanuki
TIME
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Awa Province
LOC
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Tokushima Prefecture
LOC
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Yashima no Hage-tanuki
UNK
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Kagawa Prefecture
LOC
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Bake-danuki
Concept
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Bake-danuki
Concept
located in the administrative territorial entity
location
located in present-day administrative territorial entity
located on terrain feature