TANUKINUTS!

Hosted by Mary Messhausen
Performance at midnight by Thigh Master Slaves
DJs produzentin & guest
Door: El Bear Ho
$5 cover, free in drag

Mythical & Magical Tanuki. Tanuki appear often in Japanese folklore as shape-shifters with supernatural powers and mischievous tendencies.
Statues of tanuki can be found outside many Japanese temples and restaurants, especially noodle shops. These statues often wear big, cone-shaped hats and carry bottles of sake in one hand, and a promissory note or empty purse in the other hand. Tanuki statues always have large bellies. The statues also usually show humorously large testicles, typically hanging down to the floor or ground, although this feature is sometimes omitted in contemporary sculpture.

Real Tanuki. The Tanuki is also a real animal. It is the Japanese word for the Japanese raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus). It is often confused with the badger (ana-guma) and the racoon (arai-guma). It is neither -- it is an atypical species of dog that can grow up to 60 cm. in length, with distinctive stripes of black fur under its eyes. The Tanuki is reportedly native to Japan, southeastern Siberia and Manchuria.