Gnomuki

enfu print # 3 
hand pulled 4 color serigraph
edition size: 100 + 23 a.p.
print date: 04.28.2006
dims: 9"x12", 11"x14"

Cost: $30 + (S/H)

Garden Gnomes in the west have those pointy red hats and beards, and they are used in recent Travelocity commercials or in movies like Amelie, but I don't see much of them in real life.   Tanuki statues are the Japanese equivalent, but you see them everywhere.  They are all over in shrines, on the streets, and similar to the Garden Gnome, tend to reside on lawns in the countryside. What the west finds 'wacky' about the Tanuki statue is its 'x-rated' exposure of its genitals.  Essentially all Tanuki statues have gigantuous scrotum.  These symbolize fertility. Tanuki references in Japan are everywhere, and occasionally they make it to the US audience via its exports.  The most prominent examples I can think of is in Super Mario World where if Mario grabs a tanuki suit powerup he can change into a statue.  This is in reference to the myth that tanukis can shapeshift.   Another example would be in Studio Ghibli movies.  Heisei Tanuki Gassen Pompoko is all about the tanuki's and their adventures.  I believe the main reason the US didn't pick it up as a major title to show is the whole segment in the movie where they use their scrotum as weapons and blankets and what not. I guess we as Americans simply have a thing about nudity in general.  So for those of you who would like to hang a picture of a weird looking dude with gigantic balls in your house, I won't stop you.
The tanuki statue is always holding a bottle of Sake and a promissory note which is essentially an IOU.