We all need friends, even the inanimate ones

Posted on June 29, 2009
Filed Under Tokyoh-no! | Leave a Comment |

The typical Tanuki statue has several key features that represent eight good traits to have, including perception, trustworthiness, decisiveness and resolve, but in light of this recent incident, perhaps a new one should be added: companionship.

Osamu Kimura, a 41-year-old resident of Aichi prefecture, was caught trying to pilfer a ceramic Tanuki from someone’s garden. Upon conducting a search of the man’s house, police found 15 other Tanuki statues, along with various frogs and dogs, overall coming up to over 30 stolen decorative garden figures. When questioned, Kimura said that he had been lonely living alone since his father and brother passed away, and had been nicking the statues for nearly a year to, of all things, talk to.

For a country as densely inhabited as Japan, to have people so desperate for human contact as to start talking to figures seems a bit odd. Then again, perhaps that density simply exacerbates the situation, making it harder to find friends?

Oh, and one quick note: another thing that tanunkis are known for? Balls. Big, massive balls.

Written by Chris "Chugs" Taylor