Mujina

It names mujina, a badger-like animal with overlapping traditions.

In Japanese, 狢 is むじな (mujina), a name for the badger, though older usage can identify it with tanuki, the Japanese raccoon dog. Chinese sources record 狢 as a variant of 貉, another written form for the animal name.

An entry dated 627 in the Nihon Shoki, an early Japanese chronicle compiled in 720, tells of a 狢 in Mutsu, a historical region in northeastern Japan, becoming human and singing. This is folklore, not a zoological classification. In the Shuowen dictionary tradition, 貉 is described as a northern, long-backed animal, with 豸 as its meaning element and 各 as its sound element. 狢 is recorded as a variant using 犭, another animal radical, on the left.

What does 狢 mean when someone sends it?

The full proverb makes it a pointed accusation.

In Japanese proverb usage, 同じ穴の狢 describes people who seem unrelated but share the same disreputable interests. The phrase suits hypocrisy, a hidden alliance, or a “you’re no different from them” jab; 狢 alone just names the animal.

Traditional Japanese folklore also casts the animal as a shape-shifter that can impersonate people. Older references mix 狢, 貉, 狸, and 猯, which is why translations vary among badger, Japanese raccoon dog, and trickster animal. Their stories overlap; their written forms are not interchangeable.