Risu no Matoi

Description of anime Risu no Matoi

Commissioned by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF), Risu no Matoi stars MAFF's mascot. This squirrel is on various posters and signboards for wildfire prevention (similar to that of Smokey Bear for the U.S. Forest Service) in Japanese forests/camp grounds.

In the story the squirrel smells smoke as a forest fire burns down the nearby woods. Some local men were about to be blamed for the fire but the squirrel vouches for them as he knew these specific men did not start it. The squirrel found a kitsune who said she used her shape-shifting to mess with a hunter that was trying to hunt her. During this the hunter dropped a lit rope fuse to his gun which caused the forest fire. The squirrel reported the events with the kitsune and the hunter was found and punished.