Kozō-tanuki - (小僧狸) - [ Yokai | Tanuki ]

Kozō-tanuki - (小僧狸) - [ Yokai | Tanuki ] 

• About this yokai: In the Oe District of Tokushima Prefecture, near a popular intersection in Gakushima Village; [today merged with Yoshinogawa.] A small tanuki was said to disguise itself as a young monk in training and stand in the way of passerby's at night; if you stepped to the left, it would step in the same direction, step to the right & it would mimic & block you... If one became frustrated and tried to push it aside or slashed at it with a sword; the tanuki would continuously multiply in numbers all night long... (What an exhausting prank.)

• History: One of several short Tanuki Legends as recorded in Awano Tanuki no hanashi 阿波の狸の話 - ["Tanuki Tales of Awa" 1927] - A book containing Tanuki Folklore originating from Awa, Tokushima prefecture & around the Shikoku islands, Many of which would be adapted and inspire the modern perspective of Tanuki. - This legend feels to be a reminiscent of kabukiri-kozo. - (a Mujina kid who stops passerby's in the mountains at night.) - Of course, There are no shortage of stories about Tanuki pranking humans to various degrees of mischief [check here for even more.] - theres a pretty big list of tanuki who disguise themselves as priests/monks too. - A few others that come to mind are Bozu-tanuki (坊主狸), Soroban-bozu (算盤坊主.) and of course the most famous, Morinji no Kama (茂林寺釜) aka Bunbuku-Chagama. 

The multiplying reminds me of a ninjas special move. (Shadow clones? Are you a ninja-tanuki!? Nin-nin!) - Theres very little information to find about this tanuki in the first place - unlike the others, very few artists have covered it, so i just had fun with it the design

[A photo of what is most likely a fake begger from Kyoto. Begging for alms/asking for donations IS part of the training in some Buddhist sects, but of course, A Tanuki who has not studied buddhism and thus does not understand the point of it, would likely get this wrong! - For another yokai that behaves similarly, see; oni no nenbutsu]

[Art sticker by @Samkalensky! Part of my Hyakki Yagyo, Night Parade of 100 Yokai sticker collection. follow and support for many more!]