do you know the one of the Studio Ghibli’s animation, ‘Heisei tanuki gassen pompoko (1994) ‘?
if you were raised in japan, it is a last idea that this is not for children.
i am a japanese, so I agree with you.
but if you are not, you may not agree with us.
on the contrary, you don’t think it must be shown to children. if you profess the monotheism, like Christianity, Judaism and Islamism.
because in the animation there are gods whose true character are tanuki or so.
apart from this, some people may blame this animaton for drawing mail tanuki with his testicles.
as tanuki is one of popular animals in japan, we have a lot of folklore about it.
in folklore, our image of tanuki has a jocular mood compared with kitsune’s. both of them can turn themselves into other things. but kitsune is clever and smart. on the other hand, tanuki is foolish and soft-hearted.
according to folklore, great mail tanuki has very flexible testicles. when they extend the biggest, its size is 8 tatami width.
in japan, even today, sigaraki ware tanuki can be seen evreywhere.
in 1951, shigaraki ware tanukis greeted showa emperor along the route at shigaraki town. such is not rude, they are very popular.
when i think about my religious belief, i find myself neither a buddhist nor a shintoist. i don’t believe in god which christian, jew or muslim have a faith in. i have a faith in something of nature, though.
when i pay a visit to a shrine, i join my hands in prayer and make a bow. at that time i don’t think i call some image of gods to mind. but i have a pious feeling or somethig.
it’s narural feeling for me.
as one of my student lent me it, i’ve read ‘The Da Vinci Code’ in japanese.
i love books. but i hate best-selling books. it’s reaon why i didn’t read it till now. my comment after reading through is that “it’s an entertainment for adults is the same as ‘HARRY POTTER’ is an entertainment for children”.
for christians, its theme is shocking. but for me, it’s no problem.
Christ, Buddha, and Muhammad, they all were born as mail human beings.
there’s no doubt in these facts.