The latest chapter in Japan’s 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 very Japanese products. Sure, their tiny ninja figures could be seen as tapping into the worldwide fame of the shadow warriors, but plushie versions of haniwa and dogu ancient clay figures or miniature regional rice bags are deeper cuts into quirky Japanese culture.

But now Tarlin International has created a capsule toy with an even more uniquely Japanese theme, with the release of Momimomi Tanukin. There’s a bit of wordplay to unpack there, but the gist is this: they’re squeezable tanuki testicles.

▼ Squeezable tanuki testicles made out of soft vinyl, to be precise

“Momimomi” comes from the Japanese word momu, meaning to rub, squeeze, or massage, while “tanukin” is a mashup of tanuki (racoon dogs) and kintama, meaning “testicles.” This might seem like a completely unhinged idea for a toy, but the hinge is easier to see if you’re versed in Japanese folklore, or, alternatively, a scholar of testicular cultural anthropology.

▼ 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’s Pom Poko anime film.

In Japanese legends, tanuki aren’t 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 as part of their shapeshifting skills. Outside the realm of the supernatural, in the real world Japanese goldsmiths used to use tanuki scrotum skin, 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, which is why they’re a prominent feature on statues you’ll see outside some Japanese businesses.

▼ A ramen restaurant with a tanuki out front letting it all hang out/low

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’t 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?

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. There’s yamabuki (Japanese yellow rose)…

…kuri (chestnut)…

…shirocha (white tea)…

…and, finally, uguisu (Japanese bush warbler).

▼ Because “yellow,” “brown,” “gray,” and “green” just don’t have the dignity these figures deserve.

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’re 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 “out of the reach of children under 3 years old” as a safety precaution, and also to spare you the very awkward conversation of having to call for an ambulance and saying “Help! My child is choking on tanuki balls!”

Source: Tarlin International via Dengeki Hobby via Golden Times
Top image: Tarlin International
Insert images: Tarlin International, Studio Ghibli, SoraNews24
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