Talk:Yagyu Munenori/@comment-4802891-20171020072252/@comment-4802891-20171020080534

Lions are a thing in India.

Also, They know of Guardian lions, and their Okinawan equivalent. Komainu are also "sort of" lion-like dogs. Similar to the kirin whom name was later used to refer to real-life giraffes, the word for guardian lion, Shishi (獅子), was later used to refer to any panthers with a mane. However, in modern days, they use raion (ライオン) to refer to the animal. Shishi is merely for poetry, and that's probably the word used for Yagyu Munenori's nickname.

Shishi is also used to refer to the constellation Leo, hence the pun.