Minamiboso · JP

Yatsufusa Park (Statue of Yatsufusa and Tanuki)

In the quiet countryside of Inukake — a place name that literally means "dog-hung" — a small park marks the legendary birthplace of Yatsufusa, the mystical dog whose fate set in motion one of Japan's greatest epic tales, the Nanso Satomi Hakkenden. A striking bronze statue of the noble dog beside his tanuki foster-mother is the centerpiece of this modest but deeply resonant site on the Boso Peninsula. For readers and admirers of Bakin's masterpiece, or simply travelers drawn to the folklore woven into rural Japanese landscapes, Yatsufusa Park offers a tangible link between a local legend and the literary epic it inspired.