"The actual wild tanuki has disproportionately large testicles, a feature that has inspired humorous exaggeration in artistic depictions. Tanuki may be shown with their testicles flung over their backs like travelers' packs, or using them as drums." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki...
basically, they're crafty shape-shifting tricksters who are always pretending to be human and paying for food and booze with charmed money that turns to leaves after they're gone. Another reason they're so "ballsy" - as it were
@travis On a related note, I've been known to refer to the other bit down there as the "pagoda" - as in "Those kids managed to miss their dad's tanukis, but still kicked him right in the pagoda."
Ex. (watching America's Funniest Home Videos) "Aw those kids hit their dad right in the tanukis!"
http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html...
basically, they're crafty shape-shifting tricksters who are always pretending to be human and paying for food and booze with charmed money that turns to leaves after they're gone. Another reason they're so "ballsy" - as it were