Cutest cat

Check out this cat beg for food:

ネコよけ

I’ve gotten emails from a visitors to my site a few times asking about the meaning of the PET bottles (plastic bottles) that can be seen outside some homes around Japan.

These "PET bottles" filled with water can sometimes be seen outside some homes in Japan...I see them less often now than I did when I first came to Japan, though.

So, I decided that since I’ve been asked about them more than once, I’d write a blog post and try to explain it. (By the way, feel free to contact me anytime with any questions you may have about Japan…and of course, comments on any blog post are always welcome!)

What do you imagine the meaning of these bottles is?

Well, they’re meant to be a type of 「ネコ避け」 (“cat deterrent”).

People want cats (and dogs) to stay off of their property so a numbers of years ago, a TV show here in Japan told viewers that sunlight reflects from water and scares cats away. So, the show said, people should put out plastic bottles of water for that purpose.
Overnight bottles of water could be seen outside many homes!

Nowadays, though, fewer people do this anymore because they’ve realized that it doesn’t actually work.

This cat could care less about those bottles...if he even noticed them at all!

As with any fad, manufacturers decided to try and cash in on people’s desire for an effective 「ネコ避け」 (cat deterrent) and they began to sell plastic mats with spikes that aren’t hard enough to actually harm an animal (or child) but aren’t pleasant to step on.

Close-up view of the plastic mat. The spikes don't harm anyone (or anything) that steps on them...but cats (and crows) don't like them.

My neighbor has some of these mats around their garden…and I’ve seen a cat walk on them, carefully stepping between the spikes! So, it seems, these mats don’t really work either.

(All images in this post were found on Google Images).

Pet contest

I like animals a lot (but not as much the the famous animal expert “Mutsugorou-sensei” 😉 ).
We have a cute pet turtle and we’ve had a cat, rabbit and a bird in the past…and every summer we have a few カブト虫 (Japanese Rhino Beetles).

We also like to visit the many zoos in the Tokyo area and also look at the cute animals in pet shops.

I found on the Yahoo! Japan the 「Yahoo!ペット・コンテスト」 (“Yahoo! Japan Pet Contest”).

On this site people can upload cute photos of their pet and visitors to the site vote on the best ones.

Currently this cat is in first place on the Yahoo Japan Pet Contest.

This one's in Second Place now.

Third Place.

Of course, not all of the pets are cats. There are also cute photos of people’s dogs, hamsters and rabbits. I even saw a pig and a ハリネズミ (hedgehog) while I was browsing through the photos.

Here are few more pictures that I liked:

 

Do you like animals too? Do you have a pet?

If you want to look at the 「Yahoo!ペット・コンテスト」 (“Yahoo! Japan Pet Contest”) then click here.

江戸消防慰霊祭

Yesterday my wife and I went to a festival that I had been wanting to see for years but never got a chance until this year.

We were a bit early for the festival so, since the festival was in 浅草 (Asakusa, Tokyo), we decided to go by the Tokyo Sky Tree tower and walk to Asakusa from there.

Tokyo Sky Tree behind 押上駅 (Oshiage Stn)

The Tokyo Sky Tree, currently under construction, now stands at 389 meters (it will be 634 meters tall when completed).

The Asahi Beer HQ is in Asakusa

Cruise boat

The Sensoji Temple in Asakusa was covered while it's being renovated.

Once we got to 浅草 (Asakusa), we went to watch the 江戸消防慰霊祭 (Edo Firefighters Memorial Ceremony).
This is the festival that I wanted to see yesterday.
It’s a ceremony to honor fallen firefighters. The ceremony involves the firefighters dressed as firefighters in Japan did centuries ago and doing stunts on bamboo ladders.
In ancient Japan, firefighters had to balance on such ladders while fighting fires and they would practice such stunts on the ladders in order to improve their strength and balance.
Modern firefighters in Japan still practice these stunts…for tradition and to improve their strength and balance.

Actually, last January I went to the 「東京消防出初式」 (“Tokyo Fire Departments New Year Drill“). That ceremony had many exciting shows including a similar ladder show. But it was still fun to watch again yesterday.

They use these hooks to steady the ladders.

After the ceremony was over we stopped by a store and I saw these vending machines. One looks like Ultraman…it sells, among other things, 「ウルトラコーラ」 (“Ultra Cola“).

We saw this pretty cat.

We don't have a cat...but this is our pet turtle.

Tom Cruise was Japanese, U.S. may get Japanese phones, and a feline station-master…

Have you heard about any of these news stories in Japan?

◎ The wife of the Japanese Prime-Minister-elect, Miyuki Hatoyama, seems to be a bit eccentric.
She has been quoted as saying that she was abducted by aliens and taken into their triangular UFO for a trip to the planet Venus…which she described as rich with green foliage!
She also said that she and her husband eat some of the sun every morning for energy!
And that she met the famous American actor Tom Cruise in another life when he was Japanese!

◎ DoCoMo, the most prominent cellular-phone provider in Japan (and the one that my family uses), plans to begin selling their cell-phones in America. As well as offering many of the services that they provide in Japan, such as their “I-mode” internet service. It’s not clear yet if they plan to offer their cell-phone wallet service which is extremely popular in Japan to pay for everything from vending machines to groceries to fast-food to train fares.

The key-pad of a Japanese "DoCoMo" cell-phone.

◎ A small train line in a small town near Osaka, Japan was in danger of closing down until the media in Japan reported that a cat that had been hanging around the area was “hired” as the new 駅長 (station master).
The cat’s name is 「たま」 (Tama) and she gets paid with cat-food by the train line.
I remember when this story was on TV here about two years ago.
It’s seems that the tactic worked…people are coming from all over Japan to ride the train and see 「たま」 (Tama), the 駅長 (station master).
All the new customers are good for business and have kept the train line from closing down…but it created a new problem—where to put the cars from all the customers that drive to the station from around Japan.
The train station that the cat works at, 喜志駅 (Kishi Station), doesn’t have any car parking spaces near it.

Tama the feline station-master

Open House

Today was my daughters’ 学校公開 (Open School) at their Junior High School.

Today is Saturday, and there’s usually no school on Saturdays…but the school’s open on Saturdays when parents are expected to come (運動会 (Sports Day), concerts, Open School, etc), and then the school is closed the following regular school day (usually the following Monday).

But this Monday is a holiday (敬老の日 (“Respect For The Aged Day” (click here to read my FAQ about it))…so my daughters’ school will be closed on Tuesday, so they can have a three-day weekend like everyone else in Japan (Sunday-Tuesday instead of Saturday-Monday).

I watched my daughters’ English and Art classes. They did very well.

One the way home, my wife and I saw a stray cat with an unusual coat…all brown except for the black fur on his head.

He was a bit mangy…but we still liked him.

Anyways, there are a number of 秋祭 (Autumn Festivals) around Tokyo this weekend, but I probably won’t be going to any of them…we’re pretty busy this weekend. Anyhow, I’ve seen them all at least once each before.