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Tanuki Badger Japanese Folk Toy 4 Part Spinning Top Koma Transforms to Figurine For Sale
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Tanuki Badger Japanese Folk Toy 4 Part Spinning Top Koma Transforms to Figurine:
$99.95
This piece measures 4.5" tall. It depicts a Japanese Tanuki or Badger holding an ever- present sake bottle in one hand, a debt account book in the other hand and wearing a cone shaped hat. At a glance, this piece appears to be an ordinary Tanuki wooden figurine but this is a Hikoichi top from Kumamoto Prefecture of Japan and there are 4 working tops making up the Tanuki figurine: the hat, the head, the body and the base with the tail as its axis. Hikoichi tops are a relatively new folk toy and their production began in the early 1950's and immediately received many folk toy awards for its unique design. The piece was created based on the Kumamoto folklore of Hikoichi-don (meaning Hikoichi-san in Kumamoto dialect), a man known for his sharp quick wit. He and mischievous Tanuki were always at each other. One day Hikoichi found that his farm field was full of stones and pebbles. Knowing full well that this was the Tanuki's work and the Tanuki was nearby watching his reaction with a gleeful expectation, he said loudly "This is fantastic. Whoever it was did a huge favor by filling my field with stones because stones are so good for crops that my field won't need fertilizer for a long time. I am so glad that this was not horse manure because that would ruin my field." He found that his field was full of horse manure the next day. Of course, he acted really distressed by the sight of horse manure in the field. The spinning Tanuki top appears to be showing the gleeful happiness when the Tanuki thought he outsmarted Hikoichi-don. Though the legend says that Hikoichi-don outsmarted Tanuki at every turn causing the Tanuki to finally surrender and become his royal servant. The writing on the front of the charming Tanuki top set reads "Higo (feudal name of Kumamoto), Hikoichi."
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