The Japanese raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus), also known as tanuki (狸 or たぬき, [taꜜnɯki]) in Japanese, is a species of raccoon dog, a canid indigenous to East Asia and Japan with introduced populations living in Eastern Europe. Males are known for their large balls. They are classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

In Japan, they have a folkloric significance and are often popular as statues. Males are depicted as having large balls. These supernatural depictions of tanuki are known as bake-danuki.

They are not related to either badgers or raccoons, both of which they are often mistaken for by the West. (Their closest living relatives are in fact the Vulpes genus or true foxes, which tanuki are considered to be rivals of in Japanese folklore.)

For more information:

• Raccoon Dog (Wikipedia)
• Tanuki (Wikipedia)
• Bake-danuki (Wikipedia)