A Korean X user posted about food for fellow Koreans. Japanese people kept arriving. The poster joked about all the “neoguri” turning up, and the visitors joined the fun. The food discussion had become an accidental animal-summoning event.[1][2]
1. Five hundred replies and one unlikely summoning spell
On October 23, 2026, the poster said they had answered around 500 comments from Japanese users. They used Grok to organize 23 ranked entries for Korean foods the commenters wanted to eat again, then suggested saving the list to “summon Japanese people.”[1]
A follow-up asked why raccoon dogs kept appearing in something written for Koreans.[2] Japanese visitors seemed more interested in the food than in leaving. The nickname only made the joke more contagious.
2. Is tanuki an insult?
The Korean 너구리 (neoguri) means the animal known in Japanese as tanuki, or raccoon dog in English. The popular 🦝 emoji depicts a raccoon, a different animal.
Here it is a playful comparison of hungry Japanese food fans to curious little creatures. The participants exchanged jokes rather than insults. It does not mean “tanuki” is a universal Korean label for Japanese people or that animal nicknames are welcome in every conversation.
3. The 23-item Korean food “summoning list”
These are the original rankings as organized with Grok. They are not a representative national survey of Japan but a lighthearted compilation from one person's comments.[1]
- Kimchi
- Samgyeopsal, grilled pork belly
- Bibimbap
- Samgyetang, ginseng chicken soup
- Jeon, Korean savory pancakes
- Tteokbokki, spicy rice cakes
- Gimbap, seaweed rice rolls
- Bossam, wrapped pork
- Japchae, stir-fried glass noodles
- Sundubu-jjigae, soft tofu stew
- Gejang, marinated crab
- Yukhoe / yukgaejang
- Bulgogi, marinated meat
- Budae-jjigae, army-style stew
- Naengmyeon, cold noodles
- Seolleongtang, ox-bone soup
- Gamjatang, pork-bone stew
- Yangnyeom fried chicken
- Korean corn dog / hotteok
- Sundae, Korean blood sausage
- Nakgopsae, octopus, tripe and shrimp
- Cheese dakgalbi
- Kalguksu, knife-cut noodles
Number 12 combines raw beef and spicy beef soup; number 19 combines a Korean corn dog and hotteok. Thus there are 23 numbered entries, not an exact study of 23 separate dishes.
4. Why mention “biological Druking data”?
The writer jokingly called their material “biological Druking comment data.” Druking was the name associated with a major South Korean online comment-manipulation scandal.[3]
The intended joke is self-deprecation, not a confession: after manually answering hundreds of replies, one person presents the results as if they ran a grand research institute. The AI-generated ranking adds a layer of mock authority.
5. Why did the joke spread?
Grilled pork and spicy rice cakes translate faster than a long political argument. Korean users introduce dishes, Japanese users appear, and both sides laugh about the sudden population of tanuki.
The funniest reversal is that calling them tanuki seems to summon even more tanuki. A food ranking has turned into an accidental field guide for finding Japanese food lovers. No spell was needed.
Someone simply opened the menu.
