N.J. Magas's Blog: N J Magas

Tanuki are a bit of a mixed bag of real animal, evil spirit and imp of prosperity. They have been a staple in Japanese mythology for over a thousand years, as nature gods, tricksters, and malevolent monsters, but like many of Japan’s old ghosts and demons, these days they have a gentler, more cartoonish image.

Tanuki are, in fact, real animals. While the name is often translated into English as ‘raccoon-dog’ they are neither. Nor are they badgers, though they share a resemblance. At eight to ten pounds, and little more than two feet long, they aren’t any bigger than a mid-sized dog. Unless you count all the fur. Tanuki have a great, thick coat on a round body that contributes to their misidentification, along with the bands of light and dark on otherwise brown fur. As nocturnal forest dwellers, they are seen only when human habitats collide with their own, and they don't help to dispel the raccoon misnomer by foraging in urban areas like one.

Early Japanese mythology gives tanuki similar powers as foxes. This connection was likely influenced by existing Chinese mythology imported into Japan. Like foxes, tanuki were said to have the ability to shape-shift, haunt people and places, and possess human hosts. However, unlike the Chinese evil fox-spirit and Japanese divine fox-spirit legends, tanuki are depicted as less graceful, less dignified and less clever. While tricking humans is a popular past-time for tanuki, they can often be tricked themselves.

As tanuki legends in Japan separated further from their Chinese origins, their abilities and vices shifted from evil demon-like creature, to a more benign spirit. Less often would they attack with the intent to harm their victim. Instead, they would lead woodsmen off their trail, imitate Buddhist monks and engage in petty theft. They temporarily turned rocks into gold, and dung into food, and developed a taste for sake.

Much of the mythical tanuki’s current appearance has come from this shift in cultural perceptions. The straw hat or umbrella is believed to have originated from the belief that tanuki steals sake on rainy nights, the jug he is seldom seen without contains this sake (stolen or otherwise unpaid for), and the whimsical smile denotes his gullible nature.

But what about his pot belly and those enormous balls, probably the two most eye-catching features of this strange little beast?

While there is some speculation as to the origins of that huge gut, there are several possibilities from which to choose, ranging from social commentary, the creature’s beguiling belly percussion, Japanese puns and, of course, the fat, round appearance of the real animal itself. These days, the round belly of the tanuki symbolizes good sense and composure, as well as boldness in action.

The origins of the tanuki’s laughably large scrotum are somewhat easier to trace. Back in the day, metal workers would use tanuki skin to pound gold into super thin sheets. This combined with the fact that the Japanese words for “small bag of gold” and “testicles” are nearly identical made the connection that much easier. In present day, a large tanuki nutsack still represents good fortune with finances. I’ve even been told that tanuki stores all of his gold in his colossal set of family jewels.

The current image of the round, cartoonish tanuki is relatively new, largely stemming from the first quarter of the 20th century. Today, tanuki statues both miniature and gargantuan can be found outside of most businesses and houses, especially restaurants and bars where tanuki’s love of fine wine, food and fun invite guests to share his passions. As well as coming in different sizes, these days tanuki come in many different varieties. Some are female, swapping out the large testicles for large breasts, some hold children, or carry umbrellas in place of hats. Some are dressed while some remain naked.


"Where the Fireflies Go" is a story about a ceramic tanuki facing an existential crisis, and the dilemma between duty and cowardice. To read it and 23 other short stories set in the Asia-Pacific region, check out Amok: An Anthology of Asia-Pacific Speculative Fiction

Complete post available on my blog.

My first ever digital and physical print short story went up for sale on January 15th. Considering how long it took me to write it, how many times I revised it, chopped it, and changed everything from the POV to the age of the main character, I’m surprised it was even accepted, but it only goes to prove what I already knew: I’m a horrible judge of my own work. Also, reading it now, I want to rewrite it. Do other writers feel this way about their works? Is there ever a point of permanent satisfaction with what one has written?

For the horror readers out there, Growing Concerns is filled with nineteen stories of murder, paranormal vengeance, biological experiments, botanical hallucinations and more. I wrote “Journal 6 of 8: Techniques in Grafting” as a sort of add on to a novella I’ve been bouncing around for a little while now, but as these things go, as I went it had less and less to do with its parent material until I had to just shake my head and write the story the way it wanted to be written. Fun fact, ‘6 of 8’ refers to which version of the story I finally went with, to give you an idea of how much frustration this one caused me.

While I’m not, strictly speaking, authorized to give out cookies to those who buy the book, I can promise that I will eat a cookie in your name if you do. And if not, I’ll eat a cookie in sadness. Either way, a cookie will be eaten.

And if that wasn’t enough plugging, I had a second story accepted for publication in an anthology at the beginning of January. “Where the Fireflies Go” will appear in Amok: An Anthology of Asia-Pacific Speculative Fiction later this year, so you can put your wallets away; I know how eager you all are to have two honorary cookies. More information on this one to come.

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Work on the outline of my first novel has been going well. After outlining the first four chapters, Alex pointed out that of all the POV characters I have (I only wanted it to be one, damnit!) one of them doesn’t really have a reason for being. She suggested I remove the character, which I did, reluctantly, for less than a day. Something keeps telling me that I need this one. It could just be stubbornness, or it could be intuition. It’s really had to tell them apart, sometimes. In any case, I rewrote the character into a stronger position in the story. Alex approves, which means it’s a step in the right direction, so we’ll see how this goes.

I’ve needed to take a bit of a break on it at the moment, when I realized that my bi-annual contribution to Out of Print is coming due in March. Damnit. Since I stepped out of my box last time to write a contemporary fiction, this time I’ll edge a little bit closer to it with a dystopian fantasy based loosely on Tarot cards. (By loosely I mean, drawing on my limited knowledge.) I blasted out the outline for this one in three hours, almost forgetting to feed myself in the process, which is a very real danger when writing. I’m liking the direction this one is taking. I just need to iron out a few details and keep it under 2500 words and it should be just fine.

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