Tanuki, or Japanese racoon dogs, are known not only for their bushy tails and happy-go-lucky faces, but their place in Japanese culture. While it can be a rarity to spot one in the wild outside of more rural parts of the country (although you should consider yourself lucky if you do!), you'll often find statues of them in front of shops and shrines, and are often depicted in traditional artwork. This is because of their role in Japanese folklore, where they are often depicted masters of magical shapeshifting.

It seems that the cunning raccoon dogs may have pulled off their cutest--and most delicious--magic trick yet with the help of Neutral@Hachikado (Twitter, Instagram), a confectionery master that specializes in animal-themed baked donuts. Neutral@Hachikado has baked up some incredibly adorable and lifelike tanuki donuts that have charmed the internet much like their real life counterparts!

Source: @neutral_2cv

Source: @neutral_2cv

Source: @neutral_2cv

Neutral@Hachikado madeleine's amazing tanuki donuts use a madeleine-based dough, and really capture the delightful Japanese racoon dogs down to the details of their beady eyes, joyful faces, fur patterns, and even paws!

Neutral@Hachikado designs, molds, and bakes the tanuki donuts all by themselves. It's important to note that like Neutral@Hachikado's other works, the donuts are not actually a retail item, but something they bake to be sold at museum, zoo, and art events. On their Twitter, they do say they are currently adjusting them and doing their best to make them available for mass production, so you may be seeing more of these too-cute-to-eat donuts that have become a viral sweets hit.

As you can see, each tanuki donut comes out with a unique design, making for an army of delicious and expertly baked donuts!

Of course, these aren't the only awesome and adorable critter treats capybara and otters Neutral@Hachikado has made, some of their other standout donut masterpieces include capybara and otters!

Be sure to follow Neutral@Hachikado on Twitter and Instagram for more awesome creations and updates.


By - grape Japan editorial staff.