The fate of Dogs - Korea and Japan

Eating their pets - Korean Dog Butcher

I notice that the Japanese and the Koreans have a slightly different attitude to their dogs. Koreans eat theirs. Japanese treat theirs a little differently. I don't think i agree with either.

Osaka dogs today - very happy not to be getting eaten any time soon

My friends here were even surprised that you don't find Dog clothes shops, Dog hairdressers, and Dog restaurants in Europe (or do you and i just missed them?)

Dog Restaurant - note, Japanese Lady taking her Dog...for lunch.

Dog fashion, Tokyo style

It seems Dogs in Japan are basically surrogate children for couples who either can't afford children or can't have them. No wonder they're dying out.

There is something eerily dysfunctional though about grown men walking around with dogs dressed in clothes, sitting in pushchairs all day.

Spirit of Japan. Tame wild deer. Ready to eat silly spoilt Dog.

Anyway, i can't say that Western Society is perfect, and there are a great many good things about Japanese culture (like no crime, good manners, honesty) but i mean come - on. 

Whales, Eels, and Silly High Heels

So today I had lunch in a famous Eel and Whale Restaurant, in Asakusa, which is famous for...well Eel and Whale meat. Asakusa is the old temple area in Tokyo - a bit of a tourist trap, where you can buy replica Samurai swords (you know they're replicas because they don't cost 40,000 Euros) , Kimonos, overpriced postcards, and those little waving cats that girls in Estonia like.

Me pretending I know how to use chopsticks, while Naoko is about to add the flavour  for the Eel, that i was supposed to put in at the start.

You eat the Eel from a special hot pot in the middle, and add sauce and vegetables to let it cook as you go. It kind of tasted like Sardines to be honest, but tasty nevertheless.

The Eels, looking suspiciously like fat and healthy sardines

A liberals bleeding heart just as i was about to eat it (Actually its Whale Sashimi)

Of course I also ate the Whale. Pretty tasty, a bit gamey, even meatlike. I started with Whale Tempura, which tasted a bit like beef jerky, but was nice enough. The whale sashimi was everyones favourite though. It tastes a bit like fat strong flavoured Tuna - Venison is to Beef like Whale is to Tuna, if that makes sense.

Anyway, I understand that the more unstable bleeding heart emotional and nieve people among you will be frowning that i ate whale. But i don't care, it tasted quite nice. And to be honest, just like with Bullfighting, i've never heard a logical, sensible or moral argument against eating whalemeat, i'd love to hear one that doesn't involve silly things like

'They are magnificent animals how can you eat them' - comeon, you don't eat cockroaches or rats because you think they're ugly. I mean are you only supposed to eat 'average looking animals'? silly girls.

'They are deep thinkers and intelligent' - so are pigs. Incidentally i also don't buy the argument, sadly pedalled by Ayahuasca shamans that pigs have 'dense energy' and aren't healthy. Who are the biggest Pork Eaters in the world? Denmark and Hong Kong. Who are the smallest? I suppose probably Israel, Iraq, Iran...Afghanistan. Say no more. Give me more of those smart animals to eat !

East meets West - you see this a lot. Beautiful Old Japanese House beside....Macdonalds. Yin and Yang!

However, I digress....we then ended up in the Kimono Festival in Ginza. Kimonos! If only every girl wore one, every day. Then i would definately wear my kilt every day as a sign of respect. Its quite  a beautiful thing. Anyway here is a photo of me with 2 beautiful girls who spoke perfect English and blushed a lot.

Beauties and the Beast

About the high heels....well more about that later....Now to Osaka!