Meet Popo the Tanuki!

So you might be wondering, “What IS that squirrely looking creature on the PN2K logo?” If you were wondering that, you would not be alone. We’ve had a couple people ask us in passing about the mysterious creature on our logo.   Meet Popo and he is a tanuki (Japanese name for “raccoon dog”). In folklore, tanukis are considered jolly and mischievous creatures. Some would describe them as friendly and playful social animals. Others consider tanuki as mysterious animals with shape-shifting abilities. Who knows? Our Popo the Tanuki was designed to be an animal caricature of Phyo, after whom our foundation was named. During Phyo’s freshman year at MIT, he and a couple friends decided to draw themselves as their brethren animal spirits for fun. Phyo ended up with the raccoon dog because of his outer appearance and his habits. When Phyo first arrived at MIT, many of his close friends considered him like a big teddy bear. He also seemed to never sleep, and so it was fitting that a cute bear-like creature with dark rings around the eyes be his brethren animal. Finally, Phyo was mysterious in how he managed to appear everywhere (at social events, parties, TA office hours) then suddenly disappear when he did not want to be found. Thus, the tanuki became Phyo’s choice brethren spirit and the original Popo the Tanuki was born.   Popo is not the first famous tanuki out there. You may have seen Nintendo’s Mario sporting a raccoon-looking suit (that was actually a tanuki suit) or Studio Ghibli’s animated film “Pom Poko”, a film all about tanuki using their magical powers to fight urbanization!