Petting Zoo

One of the tourist attractions that I visited last spring was a petting zoo.

 It was exactly the same as one back in the states except that the zoo highly advised that visitors wear the supplied gloves and all of the creatures were adorably small (rabbits, guinea pigs, chicks, doves, and squirrels etc...) Occasionally there were normal petting zoo animals like sheep, but there is something infinitely better about a herd of guinea pigs. 

Below are some of my favorite photos.

Ramen Festival

 Several months ago my city was the home of a Ramen Festival. Basically, dozens of vendors lined up by Senba lake and sold lots of noodles in soup. Some tents sold trinkets and several street performers came out for the occasion, but mostly it was all about the food.  This was the annual ramen festival.  Early every spring, when it is still cold enough to enjoy cupping a hot cup of soup in your hands, dozens of vendors set up their shops in one long line of tents. In front of these tents the shop attendants post signs and shout the familiar and somewhat nasal phrase "irashaimase," which means welcome to our shop, and beckon passersby into their queue. Each of the many shops have their own specialty. Meats of all ken, eggs, spices, and secret ingredients that would make your mouth water - or as an america they at least made me question what exactly is in that bowl???????

Since we are already at a festival, let's get dessert. Your options are sesame flavored soft serve ice cream and rice-bran coated mochi. You can see the shop keeper nearly begging you to try a sample as he makes fresh batch of mochi.

Once you decide on your tasty treat, sit down and enjoy the show put on by a street performer. For the first time, live and in person, I saw someone contact juggling - one of those things I desperately wish I could do... but I don't have the time for that right now. 

So, like I did, sit down and enjoy the show. 

Dressing Rooms

The protocol for dressing rooms is shockingly different from the states... or at least the ones I am used to. To start with, I have never questioned the cleanliness of the fitting room floor. 

        When you approach the dressing room the floor is raised which, in Japan, means you have to take off your shoes. Even the most rudimentary changing room will have this feature. Even in a warehouse style used clothing store  there was a 3x3 foot wooden board raising the room inches above the concrete floor. Of course, one of the reasons for this is the compulsive attention to shoes rand cleanliness which is apparent throughout Japanese culture. I have difficulty adapting to the complicated shuffle of shoe-slipper-sock and slippers. I can't argue with the results, though.  Beyond cleanliness, I soon discovered another reason. The empty shoes outside the little cubicles is the best way to tell whether it is in use.  

       Without sounding ungreatful for the states, I just want to make a note about the incredible service industry here. Japanese stores know how to treat their customers well. This image shows a head cloth. If we have them in the states, I have never seen them. The are to cover ladies faces as they pull a shirt or dress over their head so that makeup does not smear on the clothing. (That is what the sign next to it says.) Where has this brilliance been my whole life?