Fox and Tanuki

Here's another foxy expression today, this one featuring another animal of magical prowess: the tanuki (or Japanese racoon dog). Like the fox, the tanuki is said to have transformative powers and to be similarly sly and tricky in nature. Here's today's expression:

狐と狸の化かしあい　～　きつねとたぬきのばかしあい　～　A fox and tanuki trying to bewitch each other.

Note the kanji 化. This means change into or transform and can be read KA or KE or ba・keru or ba・kasu.　化かす has the sense of bewitching or deceiving and can be used again in a variation of yesterday's expression　狐に化かされる.

The expression kitsune to tanuki no bakashiai is used when two people are competing in some way and are trying to outdo each other by sly or devious means. Let's say two of my students are in competition to get the better results. Perhaps they try to give each other a false sense of security by outwardly stating that they hardly studied for a test, when in actual fact they are studying really hard. This is 狐と狸の化かしあい. We might say in English that two people are trying to outfox each other.
　

あの二人は争って、狐と狸の化かし合いをしています。
Those two are in competition and always trying to outfox each other.