AT A GLANCE
Why go?
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.↗↗
The Legend Behind the Statue
In the Muromachi period, a puppy was born in this area to a peasant's dog whose mother had been killed by a wolf. The owner marveled that the young pup survived and grew strong despite having no mother or caretaker — until one night he discovered a tanuki (Japanese raccoon dog) sneaking into the yard to nurse and raise the orphaned pup. When local lord Satomi Yoshimitsu heard of this extraordinary tale, he summoned the dog to his service and named it Yatsufusa, meaning "Eight Bundles," supposedly after the bundles of firewood it once carried. This event is considered the prologue to the Nanso Satomi Hakkenden.
