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The latest chapter in Japan\u2019s long tradition of long-balled depictions of racoon dogs<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Despite the second half of the company name, Tokyo-based capsule toy<\/strong> maker Tarlin International<\/strong> has made some very<\/em> Japanese products. Sure, their tiny ninja figures<\/a> could be seen as tapping into the worldwide fame of the shadow warriors, but plushie versions of haniwa and dogu ancient clay figures<\/a> or miniature regional rice bags<\/a> are deeper cuts into quirky Japanese culture.<\/p>\n But now Tarlin International has created a capsule toy with an even more uniquely Japanese theme, with the release of Momimomi Tanukin<\/strong>. There\u2019s a bit of wordplay to unpack there, but the gist is this: they\u2019re squeezable tanuki testicles<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u25bc Squeezable tanuki testicles made out of soft vinyl, to be precise<\/p>\n \u201cMomimomi\u201d comes from the Japanese word momu<\/em>, meaning to rub, squeeze, or massage, while \u201ctanukin\u201d is a mashup of tanuki<\/strong> (racoon dogs) and kintama<\/em>, meaning \u201ctesticles.\u201d This might seem like a completely unhinged idea for a toy, but the hinge is easier to see if you\u2019re versed in Japanese folklore, or, alternatively, a scholar of testicular cultural anthropology.<\/p>\n \u25bc And even if you never took Intro to Japanese Folklore or Balls Around the World 101 in college, you may have seen a whole bunch of tanuki testicles in Studio Ghibli\u2019s Pom Poko<\/em> anime film.<\/p>\n In Japanese legends, tanuki aren\u2019t just cuddly-looking woodland critters, but trickster spirts who like to prank unsuspecting country bumpkins, and among their purported powers are the ability to change the size and shape of their testicles<\/strong> as part of their shapeshifting skills. Outside the realm of the supernatural, in the real world Japanese goldsmiths used to use tanuki scrotum skin<\/strong><\/a>, renowned for its durable pliability, as a wrapping when hammering gold into gold leaf, and that connection between tanuki testicles and precious metals got stretched further still to tanuki balls being sometimes seen as a symbol of impending economic prosperity<\/strong>, which is why they\u2019re a prominent feature on statues you\u2019ll see outside some Japanese businesses<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u25bc A ramen restaurant with a tanuki out front letting it all hang out\/low<\/p>\n So from a Japanese standpoint, tanuki and testicles go together like a left and right nut. The connection is so strong that Tarlin International didn\u2019t create its squeezable figure as just one possibility in a wider series of Japanese folklore-themed capsule toys. No, the Momimomi Tanukin is its own entire line, because what would be more disappointing than desiring tanuki balls but getting something else?<\/p>\n These being capsule toys, though, there still has to be some random element, so Tarlin International produces the Momimomi Tanukin in four different colors, each with an elegant name<\/strong>. There\u2019s yamabuki<\/strong> (Japanese yellow rose)\u2026<\/p>\n \u2026kuri<\/strong> (chestnut)\u2026<\/p>\n \u2026shirocha<\/strong> (white tea)\u2026<\/p>\n \u2026and, finally, uguisu<\/strong> (Japanese bush warbler).<\/p>\n \u25bc Because \u201cyellow,\u201d \u201cbrown,\u201d \u201cgray,\u201d and \u201cgreen\u201d just don\u2019t have the dignity these figures deserve.<\/p>\n Momimomi Tanukin are available in capsule toy machines as of this month, priced at 400 yen (US$2.75) each (as in each figure, not each testicle). Note that Tarlin International says that they\u2019re meant for users age 8 and up. The company makes an additional warning that when not being played with, the figures should be kept in a safe place \u201cout of the reach of children under 3 years old\u201d<\/strong> as a safety precaution, and also to spare you the very awkward conversation of having to call for an ambulance and saying \u201cHelp! My child is choking on tanuki balls!\u201d<\/p>\n Source: Tarlin International<\/a> via Dengeki Hobby<\/a> via Golden Times<\/a><\/em> The latest chapter in Japan\u2019s long tradition of long-balled depictions of racoon dogs. Despite the second half of the company name, Tokyo-based capsule toy maker Tarlin International has made some…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/soranews24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/05\/TT-2.jpg?w=640\")
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\nTop image: Tarlin International<\/em>
\nInsert images: Tarlin International, Studio Ghibli<\/a>, SoraNews24<\/em>
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