Have a (tanuki) ball...
 

Slightly NSFW (really not): Ukiyo-e of amazing uses for tanuki...sacs. I feel like this is the Tokugawa equivalent of an infomercial: "You can catch fish, make mochi, carry all your belongings!"
http://www.pinktentacle.com/2009/06/...-by-kuniyoshi/

I do so love those features in magazines that show you 101 ways to use a tenugui (this portable gym example belongs on an infomercial), or 20 hats you can make with a tenugui, or 50 ways to use a furoshiki as gift wrap.

There MUST be a really long tradition for this kind of information as I can only assume that these prints are a clever parody.

I've no intention of sanitising the old tanuki tales by telling my offspring that these creatures drummed on their bellies. These will make a wonderful resource! Cheers!

These are the real deal. They are attributed to Kuniyoshi by Basil Robinson in his book Kuniyoshi which is considered the reference standard for Kuniyoshi.

If you like these kinds of things, you should look up the "farting contest" in the 2nd choju jinbutsu giga emaki from the Heian Era (12th century). A classic.

I wasn't doubting that Kuniyoshi was the Artist, but wondering if he was parodying whatever was the then (19thC) equivalent of the '101 ways to wear a Hermes Scarf' one sees in publications today.

Whilst I'd be highly amused if it turned out that he started off this phenomenon with this set of prints, I can't quite imagine this is what happened.

I think the tradition for artists to produce work as a series on a theme was a pretty standard business model. Customers would subscribe or purchase the entire series. For popular artists, the first print run could be sold before it was ready - a bit like the pre-publication sales on amazon.
Subjects of serialization included theater, nature, eroticism, toilet humor etc. I don't think this is a "parody" of that. It is that.