Grateful Tanuki

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Happy New Year everyone πŸ˜†πŸŒˆπŸ’•✨⭐
May all your wishes come true and may all your days be full of love and happiness this year! 
Here is another happy story for you ✨🎁 Enjoy! Thank you for visiting my blog πŸ™πŸ’–✨


Tanuki (raccoon dog)

(Translated and arranged by Saya)

A day before yesterday, I went to Hakone *1 on a business trip; and while I was there, I experienced something similar to the story "The Grateful Crane." *2

After I finished my work, I was driving on a mountain road, but it was so foggy that I could barely see anything. 
That was why I didn't notice it when a baby tanuki (raccoon dog) *3 suddenly ran out into the road. I ran over it before I could stop the car. 

"Oh no, is it dead!?" 
I got out of the car and walked over to the tanuki. It was alive but not moving. 

Luckily, I managed to find a vet nearby using the satnav and took the tanuki there. 
It turned out that the tanuki was fine apart from a scratch on its head. 
But it looked so pitifully thin and undernourished that I fed it some food and massaged its body until it looked well again. 
(I was worried that I might get scolded by the vet for doing so, but he was a good guy and didn't say anything.)

After that, I carried the tanuki into my car again and drove back to the road where I originally encountered it, and let it go. 

Back in my hotel, I was watching TV in my room when the doorbell rang. 
I wondered if it might be a hotel staff and opened the door. A middle aged man was standing there. 

The man was grinning from ear to ear, and to be honest I thought he looked a bit creepy. 

Then the man said, "It's nothing special..." and gave me something wrapped up in leaves. *4
I was puzzled. 

"I just want to show you my gratitude." He said again, and went away. 

I opened the leaves and found in there two white, round cakes.*5 The outer layer of the cakes was so soft and springy, and the red bean paste inside them was sweet. They were exceptionally delicious cakes. 

The man had a bandage on his head fixed in place by adhesive tape. I wondered if he was that tanuki I rescued.
I thought the tanuki was a child but it was actually a middle aged man. LOL
 
On my way home, I looked around in the local shops for the same round cakes, but couldn't find them. 

They tasted fantastic. I would love to taste them again...
 

 
 
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* 1 Hakone --- A popular holiday destination where you will find lots of hot springs.

*2 The Grateful Crane --- A children's story in which a poor farmer receives good fortune after he rescues a wounded crane. 
OR Watch the animation of the story on Youtube ➡(Grateful Crane on Youtube)

*3 Tanuki (Wikipedia) --- In Japanese folklore, Tanuki is depicted as a prankster, and master of disguise and shape-shifting. 

πŸ’›Tanuki is also a symbol of good luck and fortune. You may sometimes find a tanuki figurine from Shigaraki Tanuki Village  being displayed at the door of shops and houses in Japan.

πŸ’›Tanuki is featured in the Studio Ghibli film Pom Poko (See Wikipedia).

*4 Leaves --- There are many traditional Japanese sweets and cakes that are wrapped up in leaves. 
πŸ’›Also, tanuki often uses leaves as a medium when they shape-shift or do other various tricks.

*5 Round cakes --- Manju in the original text. Manju is often sold in onsen (hot spring) towns, and those are called "onsen manju."


A manju I had the other day at home. It reminded me of this story 🀣✨


Shigaraki Tanuki Village

Baby Tanuki
Albino Tanuki
πŸ’™πŸ’šClick here for a scary story that involves a manju ➡(I can't open them)

Comments

S.P. said…
Great story, Saya!! A warm and beautiful story
Saya_In_Underworld said…
I am so happy you like itπŸ₯°✨❤️
It is fun to read!⭐✨
Qu said…
What a beautiful and meaningful story. Thanks Saya-san. Hope you have a wonderful year ❤️
Anonymous said…
It's a very cute story Saya, thank you for starting the year with this! Happy new year!! I hope it's a good year for you X)
Saya_In_Underworld said…
You are very welcome πŸ’–✨ I am so happy to hear you enjoyed the story!✨I wish you have a wonderful year full of happiness and love too!πŸ˜ŠπŸ’˜⭐✨Thank you πŸŒˆπŸ’ž✨
Saya_In_Underworld said…
I am so glad the story made you feel goodπŸ˜ŠπŸ’—πŸ’—πŸ’—✨ I hope too that everything will go your way this year, and that you will have lots and lots of fun🎡🌈⭐✨Thank you so much!
allucinator said…
Nice special edition cakes. The tanuki seems to be a good baker. 😁
Saya_In_Underworld said…
Indeed πŸ˜†⭐✨Thank you for your cheerful message!πŸŒˆπŸ’žπŸŽ΅
George V said…
One never knows when a good deed will get rewarded. Very nice yokai and story.
Saya_In_Underworld said…
Didn't you have a picture of a raccoon or something for your profile photo before?πŸ˜†✨ It looked similar to a tanuki! I think we may have tanukis around my house too! I hope I have a chance to rescue one or two of them in the future 🀣🌈✨
kraken said…
lol such a cute animal but such a bizarre man 🀣 how nice of the person for taking care of the tanuki and equally nice that the tanuki gave them yummy food!! 🀀 as always love your stories from scary nightmare inducing to funny and cute like this one!! ☺️
Saya_In_Underworld said…
I prefer posting cheerful stories during this holiday season πŸ˜†✨

I am so glad you like itπŸ˜ŠπŸ’•πŸ’•πŸ’•✨
George V said…
Hmm, I wonder what happened. I tried uploading a new copy of my red panda from my computer and gives me an error about it being an invalid image url. Guess I will be a B for a while :D
Amuletyu said…
This is such a cute story xD. Thank you for sharing this! I wanna meet a tanuki one day. Have a great year, Saya!
Saya_In_Underworld said…
I hope you will one day meet a friendly tanuki who will give you delicious sweets tooπŸ˜†⭐🌈✨

Thank you for leaving a comment! Have a wonderful day too 🌸✨
Saya_In_Underworld said…
It's a curse of Red Panda 😱 LOL ✨

You should try again because I love that picture πŸ˜†πŸŽ΅✨
George V said…
Mission accomplished. On a side note, the anime Otherside Picnic has a ton of urban legend references. The opening episode deals with hunting Kune-kune, and a variant of the elevator to another world. Finally, in the opening credits, we see a station sign that states that it is Kisaragi Station.
Steeple said…
not every animal can be a hot young lady! even if all you get are some delicious manju, its nice to be kind. i was worried for a second, since the manju were wrapped in leaves and i thought he was going to pull another prank! but no, he's just a grateful man. :)

then again, some people are into DILFs, lol
Saya_In_Underworld said…
LOL ✨🎡🌈
Well done πŸ˜†⭐✨ Impressive πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘✨

Oh that sounds like a great anime πŸ₯°✨ Thank you so much for introducing us to many interesting things!
Saya_In_Underworld said…
My blog is for innocent children 🀣✨You are a bit dirty minded😝⭐
hanisshi said…
what a good guy u got there. or shall i say a good tanuki xD
Saya_In_Underworld said…
I know rightπŸ˜†✨
Anonymous said…
AAAAAAWWWW I can't stop smiling reading this story, so heart warming.
Thank you for the cute story. I really like it.

Happy new year too, Saya!
Saya_In_Underworld said…
I am glad it was able to put a smile on your face πŸ˜†✨

Thank you for your comment and Happy New Year to you πŸ’“✨
Eveningpress said…
What a warmful story to started a new year! Stay healthy, saya. Btw i've been looking for your blog for a loooong time. Bcs the last time i read it, it was when i'm in junior high school. I'm a freshman in college now. I love your blog and like to know that you're active again
Saya_In_Underworld said…
Thank you for commenting! I am happy that hear from you and I hope everything is going well with you too⭐ Enjoy your study at the college πŸ˜†πŸŽ΅✨Take care!πŸ€πŸ’˜✨
Thespookyfox said…
¡So cute!
I love stories about shapeshifters
Anonymous said…
Such a heart-warming story.
But I must admit, no matter how appetizing it is, I would never eat something from an unexpected stranger.
No matter how delicious it looks. No matter even if a handsome tanuki itself bring it to me in all its cuteness.
I should strive to be more lenient towards myself. Or I will miss out something gloriously tasty. Wouldn't that be such a shame.

Thank you for the story, Saya-san. The manju picture makes me hungry now ;).
Since it's close to midnight here, I can only raid my fridge for snacks.

- nunu -
Foxes are shapeshifters so you must be one tooπŸ˜†✨
I wouldn't mind meeting a handsome tanuki. πŸ˜†πŸ’“✨

I hope you found something delicious in your fridge!