Kinchō-Tanuki (金長狸 Kinchōtanuki) is a tanuki.
Appearance[]
Kinchō-Tanuki is a black, human-sized tanuki. He wears a dark blue kimono and yellow apron.
History[]
Video Games[]
- Kinchō-Tanuki appears in GeGeGe no Kitarō: Yōkai Yokochō as an A-Rank yōkai.
Legend[]
Illustration of Kinchō-Tanuki
Kinchō-Tanuki (enshrined as Kinchō-Daimyōjin, 金長大明神) is the titular tanuki from the Awa Tanuki Gassen legend from Awa Province (modern-day Tokushima Prefecture).
During the Tenpō era, in Higaino, Komatsushima (now Kandaise-chō, Komatsushima City), a man named Moemon ran a dyeing shop called Yamatoya. One day, a tanuki started to live near Yamatoya, and Moemon's employees planned its extermination. Moemon objected and said "Tanuki are very grateful. If you take good care of them, they will surely bring prosperity to your family." Moemon successfully rescued the tanuki, and instructed his wife to place rice balls and other treats in front of the creatures den every day. Around this time, Yamatoya started to prosper, Moemon believing it to have been caused by the tanuki, however one day, one of the employees, a man named Mankichi, started to act strange.
When Moemon asked Mankichi what was wrong, he said "I'm the tanuki you've been taking care of at the shop." "Mankichi" explained that he was actually a 206-year-old tanuki leader named Kinchō from the surrounding woods, who only possessed the man. He came to Moemon's shop after a flood struck his home, and was really grateful the man took him in and helped him. Moemon decided to show Mankichi's powers to the public while keeping his true identity a secret, and many visitors flocked to Yamatoya to see the man's fortune-telling and healing powers. After many days of doing this, Kinchō told Moemon "I have decided that I will leave now". Kinchō wasn't actually in a formal rank yet, and wanted to seek training under Rokuemon, a tanuki general in Tsuda (then Tsudaura, Saitsu Village, Myōdō District, now Tsuda-chō, Tokushima City).
After Kinchō left Moemon, the tanuki excelled his training and earned the title of Shōichii. Rokuemon was impressed, and arranged a marriage between his daughter (in some retellings called Koyasuhime), and Kinchō, as a way to make the tanuki his son-in-law and increase his own position. However Kinchō, who thought Rokuemon was too overbearing, rejected his proposal and wanted to go back to Higaino to possess Mankichi again. After one year of training, Kinchō returned to Higaino, telling Moemon "I've returned after one year of a temporary leave of absence." Meanwhile, Rokuemon and his retainers were secretly planning an attack on Kinchō, under the assumption the tanuki was plotting a rebellion. One night, Rokuemon attacked Kinchō, and even with another tanuki from Higaino named Fuji no Kidera no Taka by his side, the two of them were easily repelled, Taka dying in battle.
In certain retellings, Kinchō briefly returned to Yamatoya to say goodbye permanently to Moemon, and went back into battle. Luckily, Kinchō still had a few tanuki on his side, which was on the Higaino side of the Katsuura River, meanwhile Rokuemon's side, which consisted of all the other tanuki in Shikokou, was on the Tsuda side, with both sides amassing more than 600 tanuki each! A fierce battle unfolded between the tanuki (in some retellings spanning three days and nights), and Rokuemon attempted to hide from the others in a nearby temple dedicated to Kannon. Kinchō eventually tracked down Rokuemon, and killed the general by slicing his throat with his sword. While Kinchō's side won, the tanuki was heavily wounded, and eventually died from his injuries after retreating to a Chinju no Mori. At dusk, local human villagers gathered after hearing and seeing parts of the tanuki's battle, and found some footprints nearby in the morning. After Moemon found out Kinchō died, he was felt pity for the tanuki who wasn't able to rise up the ranks, and personally traveled to the Yoshida Shinto Ritualists in Kyoto, and successfully petitioned for Kinchō to be posthumously awarded the rank. Eventually, a small shrine dedicated to Kinchō, who was given the title of Dai-Myōjin, was placed in Yamatoya, and remained there until the Meiji Period.
Some folklorists believe this legend came from a pre-existing tale of an animal-specific war, and think it might've been created as an allegory for human conflicts. Despite the general symbolic nature of this legend, Moemon was known as a real person.