Once upon a time, there lived a very skillful ceramist called Tetsu-yan at a kiln village named Shigeruki deep in the mountains with dense forests. He secluded himself in the Otowa Mountains near the Capital Kyoto and disciplined for along time. No wonder, all neighbors knew him as a hard worker, and everything Tetsu-yan made sold weIl. Especially, Tetsu-yan's figurines were so well-made, and he made everything so quickly and nimbly, be it a tiger, a monkey or Bodhidharma or any other sacred image. Even the most stubborn co-workers said "we can't possibly rival Tetsu-yan. He's got us all ! He wins !" He became famous in the neighborhood in no time. One evening, it was a night with the perfectly round moon, he was working hard as usual until late at night. He saw the moonlight shine brightly into his work shack. He went out drawn by the moonlight, and realized there is something rather noisy around the rising kilns. He approached with fear and trembling led by the moonlight. There he discovered a gathehng of a family of raccoon dogs, at the height of merrymaking with sake！ In a moonlit night, merry over sake cups and beating their potbellies！
Seeing that, Tetsu-yan got carried away. He forgot the time and gazed at them in fascination. He lost track of time, but suddenly what has come over him? He dashed into his work shack and pondered with his hand on his chin. After along thought, he picked up the clay bit by bit, and he made a figurine of a raccoon dog. That's how it all happened.
