The last train

This may be a very strange blog. It's 1:00 Am in the morning and I'm just getting home. I was visiting with a friend in Tokyo and caught the last train home to Yokohama. The last train home is a very strange phenomenon here. Nobody, at least very few, people drink and drive. Therefore, the last train home means many people on the train are drunk. It's a congenial atmosphere, although some people are way over the top, stagger pass out drunk. Let me explain the good part about this ride. Most train rides during the day are "everybody keep to yourself and leave me alone". On the last train, those people who are relatively sober, connect and are quite friendly. It's a pleasant situation and makes an outsider like me feel more connected. I always end up interacting with people and have a very nice time. Subway train rides here sometimes get very crowded so anything that makes the time go by more pleasantly is certainly a bonus in my book.
Oyasuminasai (goodnight).

Dog Festa II

This buckaroo is even wearing shoes!


Well, Dog Festa was everything that I had hoped for. We went down to Motomachi Street shortly after the festival began and the street was really cool. Crowded with people, dogs and good feelings. Plus, the weather was perfect, 70 degrees and sunny.


Marcia makes friends.



Proud dog owners put out a really good vibe. They're very happy to show off their pets and are very friendly. I made sure to politely ask (in my limited Japanese) if I could take pictures of their pets and was always greeted with an enthusiastic yes. I took an overwhelming amount of pictures, at least 150, which makes writing this blog very difficult. I don't think that I need to say much. The pictures really do speak for themselves. Except, it's impossible to describe what a festive event this was. Thousands of people packed into the street and nothing but good feelings and smiles.
I've broken my pictures down into three categories: first, of course, dogs; then people and their dogs; and finally dog events. It took me hours to decide which pictures to keep and which to leave out. I know this is a lot of pictures, but I just couldn't leave any more out.


DOGS:


The purple color on the rear of the dog is her hair.




Notice the pink epaulets on the dog's shoulders.This woman worked really hard to get both her dogs to pose for me so I had to show this second picture.







Notice the backpack.



PEOPLE AND THEIR DOGS:





As you can tell all different types of people brought their dogs.




Dog slings are very popular. Very few dogs actually have to walk. They are carried, usually draped over an arm, or ride in strollers, or ride in a sling like the dog above. It's also very common to see dogs riding in shopping carts in stores.




EVENTS:

Waiting for the beauty contest to begin.

A special place for photo opportunities.

This was a table full of dogs made entirely from flowers.


The next four pictures are of an obstacle course, which was very popular.







Children obviously had a great time with the dogs.



This was a talent show stage. Dogs danced, sang, and did other things that I'm not sure how to describe.


These people are registering their dogs for the beauty contest.


These dogs were getting ready for the beauty pageant. Every event had its own stage and there were lines for everything.




So that was Dog Festa. What a great event. I recently lost my dog that I had for over 13 years. She was a wonderful dog and it was very theraputic to be around so many dogs and their owners. Although, the most my black labraudor ever dressed up was an occassional handkerchief around her neck.