Good afternoon, I’m still in bed 🙂 I’m going to take it easy today (because yesterday my legs were so tired…)

I’ve just been doing some reading up on random things bout Japan. Thought I’d share a few with you.

#1. Maneki-Neko.
In the Edo era (1603-1868) the Daimyo of Hikone was out in a storm. He turned to see a cat standing at the entrance of a shabby Buddhist temple. The cat winked at him and gestured him over with a raised paw. Fascinated, the Daimyo went over to get a closer look. Suddenly a bolt of lightning smashed into the ground, right at the spot where he had been. Amazed by his good fortune and the prescient powers of the cat, he decided to become the patron of the temple and rescued it from destitution. Thus the maneki-neko became a symbol of good luck and of prosperity.

#2. Tsuki no Usagi.
The moon rabbit, or tsuki no usagi in Japanese is a rabbit that lives on the moon (oh my goodness, Captain Obvious!) according to East Asian folklore. As Ririka, my colleague from Mac Uni explained to me, it is believed that there is a rabbit on the moon, pounding mochi (sticky rice cake, kinda like nian gao). The Chinese have similar folklore in which the rabbit is often portrayed as a companion of the moon goddess Chang’e. What I found interesting (or rather hilarious) here was the conversation taken from Apollo 11’s landing:

Houston: Among the large headlines concerning Apollo this morning there’s one asking that you watch for a lovely girl with a big rabbit. An ancient legend says a beautiful Chinese girl called Chang-o has been living there for 4000 years. It seems she was banished to the moon because she stole the pill for immortality from her husband. You might also look for her companion, a large Chinese rabbit, who is easy to spot since he is only standing on his hind feet in the shade of a cinnamon tree. The name of the rabbit is not recorded.
Collins: Okay, we’ll keep a close eye for the bunny girl.

#3. Hachiko. (not a legend – true story!)
props to wikitravel.org for this one – it’s the same way I was told this story in Japanese…

Hachik?, an Akita dog, was born in 1923 and sold to a well to do family in Tokyo while still a puppy. The father of this family, Eisaburo Ueno, a Tokyo University professor in his 50’s, loved Hachiko very much and doted on him constantly, taking him for long walks, always brushing him, and even taking baths with him inside the home. Up until Hachiko was two years old, he always walked to the station with the father and after the father went through the stalls he would go home by himself. But, then he would return every day to wait outside the stalls to meet the father coming home. All the locals and train station people knew this man and this dog had a special bond.
One day however, the father died while he was teaching at the university. Hachiko went to pick him up but he never came. And, Hachiko never stopped waiting. Every day for about 10 or 11 years he went and waited. The story was picked up and popularized by Japanese newspapers, and Hachiko became a minor celebrity while he still lived, attending the inauguration of his own statue in 1934. He passed away the next year, but his story lives on — and you can still pay him a visit in the collections of the National Science Museum in Ueno.

This story is mentioned in Nana, the movie starring Mika Nakashima and Aoi Miyazaki, where both protagonists are called “Nana” but one calls the other “Hachi” because of her “sickeningly sweet loyalty to her boyfriend”. We went to see the statue of Hachiko in January… I might go see it again now. Anyone teary eyed? 😉

Anyway it’s time for me to get off my ass and go pick up my contacts at Shinjuku. Then if all goes well (hopefully) it’s over to Shinjuku East at 6:30pm to meet with Emi and co.