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As seen outside a petshop and a, um, Christian bookstore in Shinkyogoku, Kyoto.
狸のボールRemember the Tanuki suit from Super Mario Bros. 3? Of course you do. 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. Now consider: Tan-tan-tanuki’s testicles, there isn’t even any wind but still go swing-swing-swing.Japanese Schoolyard Rhyme, translated Found this gem tucked away in the Cerego bookshelves, between a Java 1.1 book and “High Schools in Japan” circa 1983.
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