What does 'Counting Tanuki Skins Before Catching Them' mean?
It refers to making various plans based on the hopeful expectation of how much profit could be made from something not yet obtained.
How did this proverb originate?
In the past, tanuki pelts and fur were used to make various tools, making them highly valued animals that could be sold for a good price when caught.
Tanuki were perceived as 'slow' animals, and it was commonly thought they could be easily caught, leading people to think, 'I haven't caught it yet, but it'll probably be easy to catch.' However, tanukis are clever and often managed to escape, contrary to expectations.
Thus, the proverb was born from the event of making favorable profit plans for a tanuki pelt before even catching the tanuki, despite not knowing whether it would be caught at all.
As a side note, 'san'yo' (算用) refers to calculations of money or quantities, and 'kawazan'yo' (皮算用) literally means calculating how much profit one would make from selling the pelts.
