The word for raccoon in Japanese is araiguma (traditional Japanese) and rakūn (English loanword). Check their kana writings and pronunciations in the table below.
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| Romanji | Kanji | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Raccoon アライグマ | Araiguma | 洗い熊 | |
| Raccoon English loanword ラクーン | Rakūn | None |
Interesting facts about raccoons
Most people think that raccoons are only found on the North American continent, but they are also found in Japan – especially in the Hokkaido Prefecture.
A cartoon show from the 1970s about a boy who kept a raccoon as a pet was very popular in Japan at the time. Shortly after airing in Japan many Japanese people started importing raccoons from the US – as many as 1500 of them per year.
By the time the Japanese government banned the importation of raccoons it was already too late because thousands of them were running wild in the Japanese countryside.
Today, the exact numbers of raccoons in Japan are unknown, and their numbers keep increasing because they have no natural predators. They also cause an immense amount of damage to Japanese crops. shrines and temples, while also preying on native mammals.