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There's a minor crime wave going on in Japan
right now: serial petnapping. Japan has been in the midst of a
huge "Chihuahua boom" for the past few years, thanks
in part to a popular TV commercial for high-interest loans about
a man who had to borrow money so he could buy a tiny dog tuxedo
for his Chihuahua to be by his side at his daughters wedding.
With the little dogs fetching $3000 and up these days, they've
become targets of thieves who steal them and resell them on the
Internet. Dogs are extremely pampered in Japan, and are treated
like a member of the family in many homes, especially in Tokyo,
where having a small furry companion can make existing in the
concrete jungle just a little easier.
One thing I've noticed about Japanese parents:
they are usually quite concerned about the well-being of their
kids, and many involve themselves with their children's
education more than I've seen in the U.S. Whenever I drive
somewhere in my city I pass many signs that have been put up by
the local junior high school PTA, which basically encapsulate a
lot of the joshiki (universal common sense) that Japanese
usually share on subjects like how to raise kids right. The
slogans are usually general statements like "overprotective
parents are the cause of weak children" and "those who
don't show respect to their own mother and father won't receive
it from their children." Recently I came across another
interesting slogan, which used the four syllables of the English
word "OASIS" (pronounced oh-AH-shi-su in Japanese) to
remind readers of four phrases children should always be taught
to say. They are "ohayo gozaimasu" ("good
morning," as it's always important to greet others
cheerfully in Japanese society), "arigato gozaimasu"
("thank you very much"), "shitsurei shimashita"
("excuse me," said when leaving a teacher's room as a
sign of respect) and "sumimasen deshita" ("I'm
sorry," said in apology when you've done something wrong).
One of my life's goals is to drive down every street in my city
and make notes on all these PTA signs, and compile them for the
web, but I can't seem to find the time.
It seems Japan can always surprise you. Now a
small brewery in Tokyo has created a non-achoholic beer for
kids, called Kodomo no Beer, so kids can enjoy the fun of
drinking a frosty one with Dad after a dip in the hot springs.
See it here: http://www.tomomasu.co.jp/kodomo (Japanese page).
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