Tom Nook "Tanukichi"


So a random stroll through Wikipedia reveals that Tanuki or "raccoon dogs"
have a fascinating place in Japanese folklore. It seems Nintendo often
includes tanuki or tanuki aspects in its games. In particular, Tom Nook and
his adoptive children in the Animal Crossing games are tanuki!

In Japanese (at least, anglicized), Tom Nook's name is "Tanukichi". I
originally assumed that "ichi" must be a diminutive suffix indicating
cuteness, however the closest thing I could find spelling wise is "chichi"
which seems to be an informal term for father like "dad". However it's
entirely possible that the anglicized spelling similarity is totally
coincidental.

**Is there any obvious etymology of "Tanukichi" in the original Japanese?**




Names that end in "kichi" (written 吉 in kanji, meaning "good fortune") have an
"old-fashioned men's name" feel to them. It's a name ending that gives the
impression that the person is probably an older guy. And perhaps from a rural
area (though I'm less certain of that.)

Some examples of names that real people have had include

  * 大吉 - Daikichi 
  * 春吉 - Harukichi 
  * 洸吉 - Koukichi 
  * 政吉 - Masakichi 
  * 佐吉 - Sakichi

There are far more than that as well.

The creators of Animal Crossing took advantage of the fact that tanuki ends
with "ki," so it's very simple to make it Tanukichi and anyone can instantly
understand that this is an older male tanuki character.

As an aside, Redd, the fox rival of Tom Nook, is called Tsunekichi in
Japanese. The word for fox in Japanese is kitsune.




Names that end in "kichi" (written 吉 in kanji, meaning "good fortune") have an
"old-fashioned men's name" feel to them. It's a name ending that gives the
impression that the person is probably an older guy. And perhaps from a rural
area (though I'm less certain of that.)

Some examples of names that real people have had include

  * 大吉 - Daikichi 
  * 春吉 - Harukichi 
  * 洸吉 - Koukichi 
  * 政吉 - Masakichi 
  * 佐吉 - Sakichi

There are far more than that as well.

The creators of Animal Crossing took advantage of the fact that tanuki ends
with "ki," so it's very simple to make it Tanukichi and anyone can instantly
understand that this is an older male tanuki character.

As an aside, Redd, the fox rival of Tom Nook, is called Tsunekichi in
Japanese. The word for fox in Japanese is kitsune.

