Bunbuku Chagama

Bunbuku Chagama (分福茶釜 or 文福茶釜) , literally "Bunbuku tea-kettle" is a Japanese folktale or fairy tale about a tanuki (raccoon dog), that uses its shapeshifting powers to reward its rescuer for his kindness.

The fairy tale version has been translated into English as "The Accomplished and Lucky Teakettle" (1871) by Mitford and as "The Wonderful Tea Kettle" (1886) in the crepe-paper book series published by T. Hasegawa. The raccoon dog is ill-treated as a tea-kettle at a temple and sold off; it later performs a dance and tightrope walking routine, and the subsequent owner turned showman acquires great wealth.

In most folk tale versions, the raccoon dog or fox transforms into a kettle so that its human friend or benefactor can make profit by selling the fake kettle, typically to a priest.

In legend, Bunbuku chagama is the name of a tea kettle owned by priest Shukaku who turned out to be an ancient raccoon dog or mujina, the supposed kettle still on view at Morin-ji [ja] temple which Shukaku served.

One suggested hypothesis is that bunbuku is an onomatopeic word mimicking the sound of boiling water, while the character buku (fuku) in the name denotes "good luck" or "good fortune".

A second explanation is that bunbuku when written as 分福 means "sharing (bun) the wealth/fortune/luck (fuku)". This is according to the origin tale (engi) surrounding Morin-ji, and the essay Kasshi yawa.

Yet another theory claims that the correct name is Bunbuka (文武火), with bunka signifying a mild flame and buka signifying an intense flame. This explanation is given, for example, by Toriyama Sekien.

The following summary is based on three early English translations of the fairy tale version.