Do you think the artist who carved these beasties had ever actually seen one? I guess it doesn’t matter, as long as the guy who paid the bill hadn’t either.
These elephants are carved on one of the main buildings at the Tōshōgū Shrine in Nikko, built by the first shogun, Ieyasu Tokugawa.
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Would you like to be whisked away to Japan, wherever you are?
“The Samurai’s Octopus…is a truly remarkable book, one that surprised and charmed me at every turn of the page. You’re in for a treat.”
—James Ziskin, Anthony, Barry, and Macavity Award-winning author of the Ellie Stone mysteries
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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, produces the monthly e-magazine Japanagram, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had
Only In Japan 
Catephants! Or Elecats.
Or possibly Tigerphants! There are some screens in Kyoto painted by a famous artist who had never seen a tiger, and they are equally charming, because of being Slightly Off.