Yashima no Hage-tanuki

Minoyama Daimyōjin on the grounds of Yashima-ji

A wine bottle of Yashima-tanuki

Yashima no Hage-tanuki (屋島の禿狸) is a bake-tanuki, or raccoon dog, told of in legends of Yashima, Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture. He is also called Tasaburō-tanuki (太三郎狸), Yashima no Hage, and Yashima no Kamuro (屋島の禿) and is counted as one of the "three famous tanuki of Japan" along with Danzaburou-danuki of Sado and Shibaemon-tanuki of Awaji. He is also widely known to have appeared in the Studio Ghibli animated movie, Heisei Tanuki Gassen Ponpoko.

The Legend

In the past, there was a tanuki who was wounded by a fatal arrow shot but was saved by Taira no Shigemori. To pay his debt of gratitude, he swore to protect the Taira clan. The wounded tanuki's descendant is said to be Yashima no Hage-tanuki.

After the Taira clan was ruined, Hage-tanuki became the protector deity of Yashima-ji, the eighty-fourth temple on the Shikoku 88-temple pilgrimage. His skill at transformation was called the best in Japan, and he even reached the status of being the supreme commander of tanuki in Shikoku. In times of extreme cold, 300 tanuki of his household would gather together, and he would use phantom magic to show, as he had seen it before, Minamoto no Yoshitsune's Yasō Tobi 八艘飛び) Yumi Nagashi (弓流し) as it happened during the Genpei gassen.

Afterwards, Hage-tanuki died. One theory around his death is that he was shot and killed by a hunter. In another telling, he died in a contest of disguises with Shibaemon-tanuki of Awaji.

According to the latter story, while the three famous tanuki were all boasting about how they were the best in Japan, Hage-danuki embarked towards Awaji and challenged Shibaemon-tanuki to a contest of disguises. On the day of the match, Shibaemon, who came to the ground for the match, saw countless naval ships appearing at sea. While Shibaemon was still surprised, thinking that a war had broken out, the boats disappeared, and Hage-tanuki appeared. It was Hage-tanuki's technique. In response to Hage-tanuki's boasts of victory, Shibaemon-danuki said that he would disguise himself as the daimyo's procession. On the next day of the match, at the grounds of the match, a splendid daimyo's procession appeared. Hage-tanuki, who praised, "well done, my opponent!" in a loud voice, was told by a soldier, "insolent fellow!" and was killed by a spear. It was the real daimyo's procession. Shibaemon, who thought that this was unfortunate, courteously gave him a funeral service.

Hage-tanuki's spirit after death moved to dwell in Awa (now Tokushima Prefecture), and started to possess humans. In the years of Kaei, in Hayashimura, Awa district (now Awa city), he possessed a female hairdresser, and made good and bad predictions, and was said to have dropped a tanukitsuki (tanuki possession).

Also, in the great war between tanuki that occurred in the closing years of the Edo period, the Awa Tanuki Gassen, in the village of Higaino (now Komatsushima city), tanuki who spoke through possessed people told of an event involving Hage-tanuki. After Kinkyō-tanuki and Rokuemon-tanuki killed each other, when their offspring were about to try to take revenge on each other, Yashima no Hage-tanuki arbitrated for them and settled the issue. Afterwards, in the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, Hage-tanuki departed with many of his followers towards Manchuria.

Yashima no Hage-tanuki performed many good deeds, so now in Takamatsu, he is called as Minoyama Daimyōjin (蓑山大明神) in Yashima-ji. He is the God of family happiness, marriage, and the entertainment business, and is said to bring about good fortune to children. He has many believers from all provinces.

References

• 赤塚盛彦 (1995). 酒買い狸の誕生 狸・たぬきの雑学. エピック.
• 後藤捷一 (July 1922). "阿波に於ける狸傳説十八則". 民族と歴史. 8巻 (1号（通巻43号）). 日本学術普及会.
• 宮崎修二朗・足立巻一 (1980). 兵庫の伝説. 日本の伝説. 角川書店. ISBN 978-4-04-722043-0.
• 村上健司 (2011). 日本全国妖怪スポット. Vol. 2. 汐文社. ISBN 978-4-8113-8804-5.