Bubuku Chagama is a Japanese folktale about a raccoon-dog, or tanuki, that uses its shapeshifting powers to reward its rescuer for his kindness. Binomial name Nyctereutes procyonoides (Gray, 1834) A raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) is a member of the canid family and is considered to be a species of dog although they are often confused with raccoons and badgers. ... Shapeshifting, transformation or transmogrification refers to a change in the form or shape of a person. ...
Bunbuku Chagama roughly translates to "happiness bubbling over like a tea pot." The story tells of a poor man who finds a Tanuki caught in a trap. Feeling sorry for the animal, he sets it free. That night, the tanuki comes to the poor man's house to thank him for his kindness. The tanuki transforms itself into a chagama and tells the man to sell him for money. Binomial name Nyctereutes procyonoides (Gray, 1834) A raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) is a member of the canid family and is considered to be a species of dog although they are often confused with raccoons and badgers. ...
A tanuki transformed into a teapot as in the story, Bunbuku Chagama.
The man sells the tanuki teapot to a monk, who brings it home and, after scrubbing it harshly, sets it over the fire to boil water. Unable to stand the heat, the tanuki teapot sprouts legs and, in its half-transformed state, makes a run for it.
The tanuki returns to the poor man with another idea. The man would set up a 'roadside attraction' (a little circus-like setup) and charge admission for people to see a teapot walking a tightrope. The plan works, and each gains something good from the other--the man is no longer poor and the tanuki has a new friend and home.
This wonderfully whimsical cast iron tea kettle (tetsubin) was cast in the form of a tanuki and represents the Japanese folk tale, BunbukuChagama, in which the animal transforms itself into a tea kettle.
An unidentified four character signature with four character seal is cast into the body beneath the spout, which is formed in the shape of the tanukis head with open mouth and pointed ears.
BunbukuChagama is an old Japanese folktale with numerous variations which gained popularity in Japan during the Edo period when tanuki were the subject of many folk stories and every family had an iron kettle kept hot above the family hearth.
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