Are there any gopher in Japan or china?

Question

I am wrighting a book and I have a part about a evil gopher, but the story is set in Japan and there is a note the main char. makes saying he saw one once in china. However I can not find any info on this topic. If there are no gopher's in either Japan or China can someone tell me if there is a differnt animal like a gopher there?

Answer 1

Gophers aren't native but the are guinea pigs and hamsters as pets.

Maybe one of these might fit the bill for an evil rodent:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sciuridae#Ground_squirrel

Answer 2

Japanese people like gophers as pets