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Tanuki are shapeshifters like foxes. The print above refers to the story of a tanuki who changed into a monk's teakettle. A number of different versions of the story exist. Some have a happy ending for the tanuki, some not so happy. Here the tanuki has taken the form of the priest himself.
Edo period print from the "36 Ghosts" series by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi.
A real tanuki (they look somewhat like racoons, but are the size of badgers).
Image from <http://www.sonic.net/~anomaly/japan/tanuki.htm>
In the Edo period tanuki became associated with fertility as well as with over-indulgence in food and wine, and today statues can often be seen in front of restaurants or bars.
Image by Robert Yellin, from <http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/tanuki.shtml>
Other webpages:
Japanese Buddhist Statuary: Tanuki