I found this on and It actually has considerable simlarities to Narutos' tailed beast
Shakaku*One-Tails*
"Tanuki is the Japanese word for the Japanese raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonides viverrinus). They have been part of Japanese folklore since ancient times. The legendary tanuki is reputed to be mischievous and jolly, a master of disguise and shapeshifting, but somewhat gullible and absent-minded.
Statues of tanuki can be found outside many Japanese temples and restaurants, especially noodle shops. These statues often wear big, cone-shaped hats and carry bottles of sake in one hand, and a promissory note (a bill it will never pay) or empty purse in the other hand. Tanuki statues always have large bellies. Older depictions of the tanuki show them as having large testicles as well, although this feature is often omitted in contemporary sculpture.
The comical image of the tanuki is thought to have developed during the Kamakura era. The actual wild tanuki has unusually large testicles, a feature that has inspired humorous exaggeration in artistic depictions of the creature. Tanuki may be shown with their testicles flung over their backs like travellers' packs, or using them as drums. As tanuki are also typically depicted as having large bellies, they may be depicted as drumming on their bellies instead of their testicles *Wind Style: Devastaion?*-- particularly in contemporary art."
"The Fearsome Shakaku"
Nekomata*two-tails*
(I Know they really did'nt show this beast but this will probly give off some idea of it's abilities)
"A bakeneko ("monster cat") is, in Japanese folklore, a cat with supernatural abilities akin to those of the "fox" or "raccoon dog(Tanuki)". A cat may become a bakeneko in a number of ways: it may reach a certain age, be kept for a certain number of years, grow to a certain size, or be allowed to keep a long tail. In the last case, the tail forks in two and the bakeneko is then called a nekomata ("forked cat"). This superstition may have some connection to the breeding of the Japanese Bobtail.
A bakeneko will haunt any household it is kept in, creating ghostly fireballs, menacing sleepers, walking on its hind legs, changing its shape into that of a human, and even devouring its own mistress in order to shapeshift and take her place. When it is finally killed, its body may be as much as five feet in length. It also poses a danger if allowed into a room with a fresh corpse; a cat is believed to be capable of reanimating a body by jumping over it."
"Demon Forked Cat"
*No Real Info On Three or Four tails* aside from the three-tails being turtle based
Yamata no Orochi*theoretical eight-tails beast*
"Yamata no Orochi ("8-branched giant snake") or Orochi, translated as the Eight-Forked Serpent in English, is a legendary 8-headed and 8-tailed Japanese dragon that was slain by the Shinto sea-god Susanoo.(<-Itachi Mangekyou Ability)
Yamata no Orochi legends are originally recorded in two ancient texts about Japanese mythology and history. In both versions of the Orochi myth, Susanoo or Susa-no-Ō is expelled from Heaven for tricking his sister
Amaterasu the sun-goddess.(<-Itachi Mangekyou Ability)
After expulsion from Heaven, Susanoo encounters two "Earthly Deities" near the head of the Hi River in Izumo Province. They are weeping because they were forced to give the Orochi one of their daughters every year for seven years, and now they must sacrifice their eighth, Kushi-inada-hime "comb/wondrous rice-field princess", who Susanoo transforms into a kushi ("comb" for safekeeping).
Compare the Nihongi description of the Yamata no Orochi (tr. Aston 1896:1:52-53). "It had an eight-forked head and an eight-forked tail; its eyes were red, like the winter-cherry; and on its back firs and cypresses were growing. As it crawled it extended over a space of eight hills and eight valleys.' "
*Susanno slaying the 8-tailed beasts*
Kyuubi*Nine tails*(here is the folklore on the "fox" a.k.a "Kitsune")
"Kitsune is the Japanese word for fox. Foxes are a common subject of Japanese folklore. Stories depict them as intelligent beings and as possessing magical abilities that increase with their age and wisdom. Foremost among these is the ability to assume human form. While some folktales speak of kitsune employing this ability to trick others ? as foxes in folklore often do ? others portray them as faithful guardians, friends, lovers, and wives.
Foxes and human beings lived in close proximity in ancient Japan; this companionship gave rise to legends about the creatures. Kitsune have become closely associated with Inari, a Shinto kami or spirit, and serve as his messengers. This role has reinforced the fox's supernatural significance. The more tails a kitsune has ? they may have as many as nine ? the older, wiser, and more powerful it is. Because of their potential power and influence, some people make offerings to them as to a deity."
"Does'nt sound to much like our sadistic, over-powered Kyuubi"
Wikipedia.org/naruto.wikia.com
Shakaku*One-Tails*
"Tanuki is the Japanese word for the Japanese raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonides viverrinus). They have been part of Japanese folklore since ancient times. The legendary tanuki is reputed to be mischievous and jolly, a master of disguise and shapeshifting, but somewhat gullible and absent-minded.
Statues of tanuki can be found outside many Japanese temples and restaurants, especially noodle shops. These statues often wear big, cone-shaped hats and carry bottles of sake in one hand, and a promissory note (a bill it will never pay) or empty purse in the other hand. Tanuki statues always have large bellies. Older depictions of the tanuki show them as having large testicles as well, although this feature is often omitted in contemporary sculpture.
The comical image of the tanuki is thought to have developed during the Kamakura era. The actual wild tanuki has unusually large testicles, a feature that has inspired humorous exaggeration in artistic depictions of the creature. Tanuki may be shown with their testicles flung over their backs like travellers' packs, or using them as drums. As tanuki are also typically depicted as having large bellies, they may be depicted as drumming on their bellies instead of their testicles *Wind Style: Devastaion?*-- particularly in contemporary art."
"The Fearsome Shakaku"
You must be registered for see images
Nekomata*two-tails*
(I Know they really did'nt show this beast but this will probly give off some idea of it's abilities)
"A bakeneko ("monster cat") is, in Japanese folklore, a cat with supernatural abilities akin to those of the "fox" or "raccoon dog(Tanuki)". A cat may become a bakeneko in a number of ways: it may reach a certain age, be kept for a certain number of years, grow to a certain size, or be allowed to keep a long tail. In the last case, the tail forks in two and the bakeneko is then called a nekomata ("forked cat"). This superstition may have some connection to the breeding of the Japanese Bobtail.
A bakeneko will haunt any household it is kept in, creating ghostly fireballs, menacing sleepers, walking on its hind legs, changing its shape into that of a human, and even devouring its own mistress in order to shapeshift and take her place. When it is finally killed, its body may be as much as five feet in length. It also poses a danger if allowed into a room with a fresh corpse; a cat is believed to be capable of reanimating a body by jumping over it."
"Demon Forked Cat"
You must be registered for see images
*No Real Info On Three or Four tails* aside from the three-tails being turtle based
Yamata no Orochi*theoretical eight-tails beast*
"Yamata no Orochi ("8-branched giant snake") or Orochi, translated as the Eight-Forked Serpent in English, is a legendary 8-headed and 8-tailed Japanese dragon that was slain by the Shinto sea-god Susanoo.(<-Itachi Mangekyou Ability)
Yamata no Orochi legends are originally recorded in two ancient texts about Japanese mythology and history. In both versions of the Orochi myth, Susanoo or Susa-no-Ō is expelled from Heaven for tricking his sister
Amaterasu the sun-goddess.(<-Itachi Mangekyou Ability)
After expulsion from Heaven, Susanoo encounters two "Earthly Deities" near the head of the Hi River in Izumo Province. They are weeping because they were forced to give the Orochi one of their daughters every year for seven years, and now they must sacrifice their eighth, Kushi-inada-hime "comb/wondrous rice-field princess", who Susanoo transforms into a kushi ("comb" for safekeeping).
Compare the Nihongi description of the Yamata no Orochi (tr. Aston 1896:1:52-53). "It had an eight-forked head and an eight-forked tail; its eyes were red, like the winter-cherry; and on its back firs and cypresses were growing. As it crawled it extended over a space of eight hills and eight valleys.' "
*Susanno slaying the 8-tailed beasts*
You must be registered for see images
Kyuubi*Nine tails*(here is the folklore on the "fox" a.k.a "Kitsune")
"Kitsune is the Japanese word for fox. Foxes are a common subject of Japanese folklore. Stories depict them as intelligent beings and as possessing magical abilities that increase with their age and wisdom. Foremost among these is the ability to assume human form. While some folktales speak of kitsune employing this ability to trick others ? as foxes in folklore often do ? others portray them as faithful guardians, friends, lovers, and wives.
Foxes and human beings lived in close proximity in ancient Japan; this companionship gave rise to legends about the creatures. Kitsune have become closely associated with Inari, a Shinto kami or spirit, and serve as his messengers. This role has reinforced the fox's supernatural significance. The more tails a kitsune has ? they may have as many as nine ? the older, wiser, and more powerful it is. Because of their potential power and influence, some people make offerings to them as to a deity."
"Does'nt sound to much like our sadistic, over-powered Kyuubi"
You must be registered for see images
Wikipedia.org/naruto.wikia.com
