Our "Secondhand" Japanese Dog

How could you say no to this face??

We just adopted a puppy here in Japan! He is a Shiba Inu mix from Okinawa (an Island boy!). A few weeks ago he was flown to Tokyo by an nonprofit organization called wanspace (that we found on a Japanese website similar to Petfinder). Lucky for him, he was born to two strays that someone was taking care of and he wasn't abandoned in a field, like a lot of stray puppies are. Okinawa in particular has a big problem with stray dogs that is not helped by the American military leaving dogs behind when it comes time for them to leave Japan. Therefore, we had to PROMISE (cross your heart hope to die stick a needle in your eye) that we would never, ever abandon our dog. I also said several "gomen nasai"s (apologies) to the organization for the irresponsible Americans that had thrown their dogs away.

Finding a dog to adopt wasn't easy. You can't just go to your local animal shelter...because uh, there really isn't one. I'm not kidding. There is no established "culture" of dog adoption here. There are pounds (hokenjos) where they hold stray dogs for one week (or less) before they are euthanized. And then there are a few organizations like the one we found, that fosters strays in people's homes. There is only one physical shelter that I know of -- ARK in Osaka, which is run by a British lady.

I don't think people even consider dog adoption as an option. Lack of awareness, among other things. Most people buy their dogs from the pet store or the pet section at big box stores. Yes, they sell dogs at the equivalent here of Target and WalMart. It's heinous. By the way, they are also insanely expensive--upwards of 100,000 yen ($1000+). And of course, these dogs, like purebred pet store dogs in the U.S., come from awful puppy mills. Or are bred in apartments by the yakuza (gangsters). Maybe I'm wrong, but the impression I get is that it doesn't seem that anyone's blown the lid off that here in Japan. I feel like most Americans know they should never, ever get a dog from a pet store. Also, because the Japanese are so brand-conscious, you will almost never see mixed breed dogs around. I've maybe seen one or two since we moved here. Mutts like our adorable puppy are considered "used" or "secondhand" and most Japanese don't want that kind of dog. The purebred dogs here are horribly inbred, even worse than the U.S.

On top of that, they need a healthy dose of Bob Barker here to remind everyone to "Help control the pet population. Have your pet spayed or neutered." I've heard it has something to do with Buddhism, but it seems that spaying/neutering your pet isn't something people think to automatically do here in Japan. Consequently, you have a bunch of mutts running around that nobody wants and nowhere to keep them since there's barely enough room for people here in Japan, never mind unwanted stray animals. I could go into more details but it's really heartbreaking. 500 dogs and cats are euthanized every day. You would never imagine, after seeing all the pampered, spoiled child-replacement dogs here that they could treat animals like that.

I'm glad that we got to save one special dog.  :-)

First night at home after a long drive from Tokyo

First walk (ever!)

You know, just posing with some flowers

Here's to many more years with our "little weirdo" ;)

Garbage in Japan

Garbage is a big deal in Japan. Since there’s not a lot of space for people, there’s definitely not a lot of space for their garbage. 

First of all, good luck trying to find a place to throw anything away in public. Almost all public trash cans were done away with after the sarin gas attack in the Tokyo subway in 1995. You’re going to have to bring your trash home with you or find a convenience store.

PET bottles/cans and plastic packaging

Second, garbage must be sorted at home or you can get fined. We were told that the mama-sans in the neighborhood will go through the trash and figure out that it was the neighborhood gaijin (foreigner) from all the foreign wrappers and such. Some Japanese have had bad experiences with lazy Americans not sorting the garbage so you might get blamed for everything, even if it’s not your garbage! Luckily our neighbors are very nice and we don’t have any issues.

Garbage is sorted into burnable, non-burnable, PET bottles and cans, plastic packaging, and group resource collection.  Everything has to be in clear plastic bags (except burnables), not double-bagged, or wrapped with twine (group resource). And rinsed—wash all those bottles, tubes, and jars out! Confused yet? 

Burnable – is incinerated, obviously. Food scraps, food soiled paper , tissues and such. I’ve been toying around with the idea of making a compost pile since burning everything just seems so wasteful.

Non-burnable – landfilled. Hard plastic, rubber, foil, etc.

PET bottles, cans, and glass – recycled. PET bottles are labeled PETE in the U.S. And cans are, well, cans…in Japan they’re heavier so it makes you think you’re not done with your drink!

Plastic packaging – recycled. We usually have the most of this stuff, since the Japanese are crazy about over-packaging everything.

Group resource collection – recycled. Includes magazines, newspapers, milk cartons (rinsed and cut open so they’re flat). They have to be bound with twine or put in paper bags.

Trash cage and net on our block

There is no trash pickup at your house. Every block or so there will be a green net and/or a cage where you have to drop off your garbage on the designated day. For us, it’s burnables on Mondays and Thursdays, plastic packaging on Tuesday, non-burnables on Wednesday, and PET bottles etc. on Fridays. Group resource collection is the second and fourth Saturday of every month.  It varies by neighborhood. Sounds like fun, right?!! Also, you have to get your trash out there between 6-8 am that morning so the animals don’t get to it the night before. You’ll know when the garbage truck shows up because it plays a little song that sounds like an ice cream truck!

You know sometimes how you think “Hmm, I don’t *really* want to wash out the peanut butter jar—I’ll just throw it away.” That’s not gonna fly in Japan. Last night I found myself cutting open tubes of glue and rinsing the insides before throwing it away!

The City of Yokosuka helpfully provides a booklet for new residents. Oh, and by the way, it's 12 pages long. LOL!