Sticking out isn’t always bad.

Would you freak out if you saw a raccoon calmly sauntering its way through the ticket gate to the subway? Almost like it does this every day.

On September 2nd, a little furry commuter was seen at Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, Japan, walking in amongst thousands of other people on a busy Friday evening.

In the photo above and video below, you can see it even had its own personal usher on hand, a station employee clearing a path for it and ensuring passersby gave it personal space. Even though it was treated like a celebrity — it was only a wild tanuki.

A reader of my Little Fried Chicken and Sushi strip shared this story with me in the comments on the GoComics site, and it got my imagination racing. A tanuki is thought of as a magical creature in Japan that can shapeshift and play tricks on people. Was there a spell involved in this encounter?

I love having Tanuki as a character in my strip, and this event brings the idea of an animal doing human things to life in a new way. Some might have wondered if this raccoon forgot to turn itself into a salaryman to blend in. Maybe it uses the train regularly to get around Tokyo?

The Shinjuku train station it was spotted in has a mascot of a Tanuki with a white swirl on its belly. The mascot’s name is TanuTanu. Was this the real thing?

No one was sure about where the Tanuki came from, but it was spotted at the station around 9:30 p.m. The staff guided it from the platform, and the animal went up the stairs and towards the New South Exit, where the video was taken. Then, it walked through the ticket gates and disappeared into the night. 

We’ll never know what the Tanuki was up to, but it sure seemed comfortable in its surroundings. Not scurrying away, frightened of people, makes you think it does this often without much fanfare.

The city must be a tough place for a raccoon. I’m glad the station attendants helped him get where he needed to go.

It’s similar to the time Tanuki started working an office job. It didn’t last too long, though.

P.S. If this was indeed “the” TanuTanu mascot, spirit of, or a real magical tanuki on his way home from a long day of work pretending to be human, it stood out. Still, it was ultimately accepted by the people all around.

The video and news reports didn’t talk about people running away from it in fear or getting scared because a wild animal was walking next to them.

As a human being, a black male, who gets stared at, surprises others by being a tall foreigner on the train and sticks out just about everywhere when I’m visiting Japan. I’m not sure how to feel about this. A wild tanuki in the subway station is unique enough to make the news, but it doesn’t shock or get people’s attention the way a person who looks different can.

Sometimes, I wish I could shapeshift into a tanuki, ride the train with help from attendants, and everyone thinks it’s so cute.

Am I jealous of TanuTanu, the raccoon? Not really. Maybe a little envious, though.

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