散歩しながら。。。

Every Monday my coworkers ask me what I did over the weekend. This weekend I stayed home and was extremely productive. I washed a week's worth of dishes, did laundry, went grocery shopping, tidied the house, and scrubbed my bathtub with what was probably tatami mat cleaner (oh well...). In an effort to share all of my new and exciting experiences with you, I am also beholden to say that I put my foot in a fresh omelet this weekend. It burned. In the future I am not going to put my dinner on the floor next to my bed and then forget about it when I go to get my beverage. As I believe the dangers of omelets extend beyond the island nation of Japan, please be forewarned.

Over the weekend I also started what I hope will be a daily regimen of taking an hour long walk by the local river. Doing so has given me an opportunity to sweat, enjoy the gorgeous scenery, and observe my Japanese neighbors. Today I shall describe some of the highlights.

(My home here in Japan is really pretty. It makes me a little giddy.)

One of the first things I noticed is that the Japanese also have dogs, and take them for daily walks at predictable times. I've been doing an informal count and the most common breeds are as follows:

Shiba Inu: These dogs hail from Japan, so it's only natural that I would see 5-times as many of these dogs as any other individual breed. I was rather taken with them before I came to Japan, so I was really pleased to see so many in person.

(Images taken from Wikipedia, the first was photographed by John Schanlaub)

Corgis: Corgis are a Welsh dog and the nearest and dearest to my heart. They are also popular here in Japan, and I've seen a number of them strutting around here.

(A photo of a local dog supplies shop and my own Corgi, Chester.)

Long-haired Dachshunds: For some reason I haven't seen any short haired Dachshunds, and I'm not sure why. But this breed makes a close third to the Corgi in the frequency I've seen them here.

(Again, I found this on Wikipedia. This is the illustrious “Champion Tekalhaus Krugerrand” owned by Debbie Clarke.)

Anyway, you can find most any dog breed represented here in Japan. The tendency is toward small dogs like the miniature poodle and the slightly larger Shiba Inu, but I have also seen Dalmatians and Labradors on my walks.

(Some more gratuitous beautiful photographs)

Next, there is a lot of wildlife to be seen on these walks. You see the usual small song birds, but there are also small pheasanty things that like to trot around the little islands on the river. There are also two different kinds of wading birds I've spotted, one smaller and white and the other almost identical to the herons I've seen at home.

(Apologies for the blurred bird. The heron was looking for its dinner and was not inclined to look at the funny foreign photographer.)

In the water itself you can also see carp, smaller fish, turtles, and very rarely eels. And of course insects abound, although most of them keep to themselves. We have cicadas, dragonflies, and butterflies. I've only seen one bee that was two inches long, but that was enough for me!

And of course, where there are small creatures to be seen there are also small children brandishing nets and plastic terrariums. I had read once that Pokemon was based in part upon its creator's memories of catching bugs when he was a child. I figured “oh sure, we do that here too.” but didn't quite realize the scale of what he was talking about. In America you might see one or two children each summer with a net or a bucket chasing the few creatures in the ecosystem that are smaller than they. Here in Japan the capture, examination, and eventual release of small creatures might as well be the national sport of the young. Each day that I've gone down to the river on a weekend, I've seen between 15-20 small kids armed with identical nets stalking through the tall grass and shallow pools. I've yet to see a wild pikachu appear, but god knows when one does, the kids here will be ready.

(Physician's Warning: If you are more than two meters tall, walking under this bridge may not be right for you.)

Finally, the variety of people you see down by the river are just as interesting as those in American parks. There are the relatively normal people who eat their dinner on the river bank, practice their traditional Japanese flute, or meet to walk their dogs together. There are also the young joggers who belt out the J-Pop lyrics on their iPods as they run and the old men who jog in tight shorts.

That's all for today! I would have written sooner, but I fell asleep yesterday at 7:30pm after taking my bag of rice for a walk. No, I will not explain myself.

-Andrew