Bunbuku Chagama
The fairy tale version has been translated into English as "The Accomplished and Lucky Teakettle" (1871) by Mitford and as "The Wonderful Tea Kettle" (1886) in the crepe-paper book series published by T. Hasegawa.
The raccoon dog is ill-treated as a tea-kettle at a temple and sold off; it later performs a dance and tightrope walking routine, and the subsequent owner turned showman acquires great wealth.
[b] At a temple called Morin-ji [ja] in Kōzuke Province (now Gunma Prefecture),[c] the master priest (abbot)[d] owns a chagama (tea kettle).
[9][g] The kettle reveals its half-tanuki form to the peddler,[h] and the merchant acts on a friend's advice to command the beast to turn tricks,[14] or, is persuaded by the tanuki itself, which bargains to perform acrobatics in exchange for being well-treated.
[10][9] The man sets up a circus-like roadside attraction and charges admission for people to see the tea-kettle badger walking a tightrope to the tune of music.
B. Mitford published a version of it entitled "The Accomplished and Lucky Teakettle" in Tales of Old Japan (1871),[20] illustrated by woodcuts from drawings by the artist "Ôdaké".
One example involving a "badger" (raccoon dog (狸, tanuki)[31]) is the English-summarized folktale "Bunbuku Teakettle" collected from Shimoina District, Nagano.
[37] The fairy tale version is thought to be connected to the legend about an inexhaustible tea kettle at the temple Morin-ji [ja] in Tatebayashi, Gunma, owned by a priest named Shukaku (守鶴) who turned out to be an ancient mujina (raccoon dog or badger).
He had heard the preaching of the Buddha Sakyamuni at Holy Eagle Peak, moved to the Tang Empire and has lived in Japan these 800 or so years.
[40][5] The aged raccoon dog first living in India and China before coming to Japan resembles the circumstance of Tamamo-no-Mae, the legendary female nine-tailed fox, and the motif is thought to be modeled on that vixen legend.
[4] The text of the later edition of Bunbuku chagama ryakuengi contains more detail (motifs), and is identical to the account found in the essay Kasshi yawa [ja] (1821–1841) by Kiyoshi Matsura.
[4] Bunbuku chagama exist in popular fiction or kusazōshi format, from the akahon or "red book" period[45] (late 17th to early 18th century).
The old raccoon dog finds the monks and decides to stretch out the skin of its testicles and cover them up like a blanket (fusuma [ja][51]), by way of revenge.
[56][55][57] This work too has its precedence, a similar tale dating back to around the Enpō or Tenna eras (1673–1684), and entitled Kyō Higashiyama bake gitsune (『京東山ばけ狐』).
