Kawaiso Cat

Kawaiso, meaning "poor" is a word commonly used in Japan. This cat in a pet shop is particularly kawaiso.. but he is very also Kawaii meaning "cute". I am thinking of getting him..... stay posted for details. UPDATE - unfortunately he was gone the next day... so ill keep looking... Its good he found a nice home anyway.

P.S. - Wondering about the tiger ------> Went to see "The Golden Compass" or "ライラの冒険" as it is known in Japan. Its not bad.... but a bit "kiddy" Anyway the premise is that the people in this world have their souls on the outside of their body and can appear in the form of an animal of different sorts depending on the character of the person.. take the test and decide your Daemon on the official website here

Japan Open-Air FolkHouseMuseum (川崎市立日本民家園)

This museum of sorts is located near to Mukougaoka-yuen station on the Odakyu line. It takes about 15 minutes walk from the station but there are signposts to guide you there.





Its a bargain really at 5ooyen for entrance and has 23 buildings, most of which are houses but does include a Kabuki theater and a small water mill as well.




The buildings themselves are from a variety of different places in Japan, there are five main areas: 'Post Town', 'Village in Shin-etsu', 'Village in Kanto', 'Village in Kanagawa', and 'Village in Tohoku'.



Guided tours are available but to be honest its much nicer to just walk around by yourself, there is information available in Japanese and English so you can find out quite a lot without the tour.











If you want more information then here is the website :
English
Japanese

Cats

Was never much of a cat person really but they seem to be growing on me... not literally of course... (that would be too weird, even for Japan :-) )

This one is a particularly good example of why I seem to like them more... cute eh...















This cat was at Sunshine city near the aquarium, and whilst being extremely cute I felt a bit sorry for it being messed with my kids all day. I'm sure it really just wanted a quiet place to sleep...

There are also lots of wild cats in Japan in parks and often in the streets at night too...



These cats tend not to be so friendly but of course if you feed them then they will come and make the most of it! These were taken in Ikuta Park (生田緑地). Incidently thats an interesting place which has a museum of old Japanese houses gathered from different areas of Japan. Post coming soon......

Beetle Attack!

Flee now while you can! Well maybe not but these giant beetles were invading a Shopping Mall in Kanagawa.... only in Japan.

Unfortunately i was only able to take a quick shot but now wish i had taken a movie... yes they were moving too simulating a battle... :-) I wonder if they are available in my local toy shop.

Beetles are popular pets for Kids in Japan during the summer. The average kid has two choices, they can try to capture a beetle in the wold somewhere... (not so many of those in Tokyo but possibly in some of the bigger parks) or buy one from a local pet shop. Pricey at times a couple of years ago some thief stole some beetles from a Beetle Farmer, apparently they were worth a total of 2,000,000yen... thats a lot of beetle.