Some balls are held for charity... (Friday WTF)

As a product of the 80s, being raised on a steady diet of Voltron, ninjas, and Nintendo, Japanese pop culture has probably had more of an impact on me than I realize. Even so, I only had a very passing familiarity with one of the most popular characters in Japanese folklore, the tanuki. Tanukis are magical raccoons who love to eat, play tricks on humans, and are thoroughly adorable.

They are the subject of a well-known (in Japan, at least) children's song, and the great Japanese filmmaker Hayao Mayazaki even made a wonderful movie about them. So why did they never catch on in America? Well, I have a guess. Two guesses, in fact, which brings us to our Friday WTF video:

EDITOR'S NOTE: Please watch the following with caution. Especially if (a) you don't know where this is heading, or (b) if you have eaten in the last hour or so.



For more information on tanuki, and the apparent source of their powers, please consult the experts at AC/DC.