On the Cuting Edge at the Dog Cafe

In this time of uncertainty everyone looks to that which is stable and reliable - and what could be more depenable and reassuring than the good nature of a simple but affectionate dog.

Unfortunately, in a crowded country it is difficult to own a pet dog. And yet, Japanese dogs are surely the most pampered in the world - see here and here for examples in previous posts.

Not only are they the best-dressed animals, but also they are the most shampooed ("Dog Stylist" in Japan, unlike elsewhere, is a regular job, not limited to overly-rich areas), massaged, best-fed (you can now get biscuits that the owner and dog can share), and probably most expensive non-racetrack creatures anywhere.

So, with such pent-up demand, and serious physical limts on ownership, the logical business model has to be ...

... a dog cafe - ("Will you not play with us?")

Given that dog cafes ("Inu Cafe") are perhaps the coolest trends in Japan, the very cutting edge, I feel that it is imperative that we check out the Bow Wow Relaxation of Dog's Gallery.

The front looks promising, with hand-drawn invitations to play with some dogs, get your dog shampooed, or even buy a dog ($1000 starting price).

We go up the stairs, decorated with this guy:

"DOG", says he. "Let's play with us!"

The front bit is a regular dog shop. Slightly unfortunate that Japanese dogs are have so much attention lavished upon them, but then are stuck in glass boxes of chicken-cage dimensions most of the time. Perhaps this helps get them out of the door.

Now, here is the deal. You sit down at a table in this open space, and the dogs are supposed to come to you, not the other way around. I don't see how you would be able to anyway, as they all have been, judging by their excitement, winning the lottery while smoking crack cocaine.

And here there is a big list of rules that customers are to follow - don't chase the dogs around, don't run around, don't shout, (which no Japanese person would ever think of doing anyway), when you want to hold a dog, tell a staff member (yeah right), and please give biscuits to the dog directly from your hand (whatever).

The place smells of old carpets/dogs, but what you can't see here is that all of them have nappies on! The staff rush around tending to the dogs, who are leaping about, inbetween sniffing one another in certain key areas, and all the while customers are sitting around the sides, half smiling, half wondering why they came to see some hysterical puppies go bonkers.

Sorry, would you mind if I...? Oh, no, not at all, do go ahead...


One interesting feature was this catalogue showing you the profile of each dog - their age, weight, breed, likes and dislikes, as well as the price to buy him or her. The interesting thing was that the "personality charectaristics", such as "shy", "clever", etc really did not seem to match up to the actual dog at all, and in most cases investigated were actually diametrically opposite. Maybe they were influenced by the biscuits.

Now the game, as most customers work out after about fifteen minutes of no dog-love, is to buy a small packet of dog biscuits ($3), and then you are transformed from just another spectator into the most popular person, or at least the centre of attention, in the room. Until you have given out all the goodies. So clearly, a timed release strategy is the way forwards. However, you soon realise that the dogs only love you for your biscuits, and this undoes all the benefits of the attention from the dogs in the first place.

And this reminds me a little of the market. Short term popularity is not long term success.

Check whether your eggs have tattoos

So, since yesterday's post, I am sure that your confidence in the belief that Japan and the rest of the world are broadly the same has been shaken to its very core.

Today we go one step further, using the seemingly boring subject of ...

...eggs.

Yes, here we are at Family Mart, trying to buy some eggs, when we find...

... a single perfectly-boiled (soft on the inside) egg in its own cup!  Only 75cents.

But don't worry.  Judging by the speed of diffusion of other food technology, it will only take another twenty five years until this reaches Europe.

But say we want some not-yet-boiled eggs.  Here we are - Yodo Healthy Premium Eggs ("Bright"), made in Japan.  

And given that fact, it is hardly surprising that inside the packaging, there is...

...a cartoon egg with the company logo on his head! 

If you pay attention you can also see in the middle there is an egg character holding a baby egg, both of whom have tattooed their foreheads with the company logo - clearly a sign of commitment.


This is actually an invitation to collect up some of the smallest coupons you have ever seen (bottom right corner - about 1/4 the size of the smallest kind of postage stamp), but that's OK, as I am told that everyone in Japan has precision tools at their disposal, for a chance to win:

A. A JCB 30,000Yen (300$) gift card - available for 30 lucky egg consumers. JCB is not the seller of earth-moving equipment, but a credit card company. Collect five coupons to apply.
B. A food set made using Yodo Eggs - for 50 lucky punters. Three coupons required.
or:
C. An original QUO card worth 5000Yen ($50) - for 100 winners. This implies that the food set must be fairly high spec. Apply with only one coupon!

And this reminds me a little of the market.  Always look for a good coupon.

Signage

note: JTMIJ will not be published on this Friday.  JTMIJ is deeply sorry, really.  

In case you were thinking that there are lots of rude folks in Japan, I have to say that you are dead wrong.  And here is some evidence.

This is perhaps one of the most polite signs in the world:

"As we are working with safety as our top priority, please forgive us. WE ARE REALLY SORRY for the inconvenience caused".  

Not only is the man bowing, but he has taken his hat off.  

Is this good health and safety practice?  I don't know.  Maybe he is standing in a specially-designated bowing zone. 

However, at any rate, it is fairly polite.  Do compare this to local signs around you.  I seem to remember that in the UK there is a lot of Health & Safety Act action, but this is generally a poster with a book of not very cheerful government rules splatted onto it, or a message delivered over public address system in the voice of Disinterested Sainsury's Checkout Announcer.

And this reminds me a little of the market - always pay attention to the signs.

One Dollar Bling

With the Wall Street Journal reporting today that Bling is no longer the thing, lost its luster, has been traded down, etc (Culture of Bling Clangs to Earth as the Recession Melts Rappers' Ice), is now the to take this as a contrarian signal, and buy gold?

Regardless of the phylosophical debate this deserves, it is fair to say that main street has been downsized, and downsizing is in the mainstream.

Surely there is no place better to test this theory than in downtown Osaka, amongst the maze of covered shopping promenades.  So I decided to go without delay and apply an ear to the well-kept ground of the downtown commercial street.  And, in fact, even I could not help noticing that while there was a distinct lack of bustle in the ramen shops, shoe shops, whaleries (see photo) and the charcoal shop (yes there is a shop just selling burnt wood tied in silk ribbons - it looks very nice, but a little too expensive for an average barbecue), there was at the same time a significant interest in the goods offered by the 100Y ($1) shop.  

Looks feisty, but unfortunately closed - "Whale Food - Super Cheap - the taste of Showa" (Showa is a period of history, 1926-1989)

Now, in Japan, you must understand that nothing is ever merely what we call "popular".  Once a good thing starts drawing attention, say, a well known celebrity lets it out on national tv that she applies mature cheddar cheese on her face each evening and puts a kiwi fruit under her pillow, well, with such intelligence out there you can be sure that there will be nothing short of a run on mature cheese and kiwis by ladies young and old, across all provinces of Japan, starting promptly the very next morning.  What in other countries is called popular is a condition somewhat less well developed than the all-engulfing manias that regularly sweep the whole of this country, and, not dissimilar to a black hole sucking in matter and energy until some important physical limit is breached, it is an equally sure thing that the good times will be over in short order.

Again leaving aside the important debate of cycles and sustainability, I found myself irresistibly drawn to this shop, crammed full of neon-plastic articles, all of which were labelled 105 Y (despite the "100 Y" name of the shop).  And once I had walked in, I sound found that I stepped into a new world of shopping possibility - all of these products - for $1 each !  Why, I could buy so many things for the price of one starbucks visit! 

Now, the important thing to note with Japanese dollar stores, or this one at least, was that firstly, there was a good mix of useful things in useless quantities (5,000 toothpicks), useful things which I wouldn't normally buy (electric extention chord), and utterly useless but must-have items (penguin fridge magnets).  I tried to focus equally on all three categories of opportunity.

But how difficult realising such a strategy proved to be!  At only $1 per item, everything is a giveaway.  Such as, in the I-can't-believe-people-buy-this category:

Beautiful Face Cup.  The idea here is to squeze it, apply it to your face, and let the sucking action take out the dirt and other bad things in your pores (Suggested sales message: "That's why I've been ugly all my life!").  Look at the bottom-left corner for a visual explaination.

Or how about...

...a Jinglish wooden box!


This has all the robust design characteristics of a cornflakes packet, but with the all-important Jinglish message, in order to lift your mood when feel down during periods of intense gardening. However, how this is possible for most people is not clear, as gardens tend to consist of four or five potted plants on some concrete.

I was somewhat tempted by the Black Skull brand lunch box (you can also get this in smaller sizes which fit inside each other).


And the Love of Black candle did have a modestly amusing phraseology:


Then there was the rather fetching bear lunchbox ("Let's enjoy a time with me."):


Also available in the same style but with a squirrel and mini chick:


Or how about an origami paper holder - with mandatory cartoon bears doing origami themselves:

"Contains 50 origami explainations! After you have enjoyed making the origami, you can tidy it up by putting it into the case!".  A real time saver for those who have a heavy origami component to their schedule.

In the that's cool but I would never use it category, there was a selection of glow in the dark sticks:

Incidently, if you are going to get one of these, you probably ought to go for the more colourful one - this one has three colours - just remember that for next time, ok?

Now here was something I was so very close to buying - a fantastically simple and probably useless book strap - tie all your books together so they are easier to handle!

I felt that this item had a very strong sales message ("Wide peeler - a fashionable kitchen tool, makes your life colourful and pleasant")

And what home would be complete without....


...a tyranasourus rex!


But in the end, I went for the extension chord.

And this reminds me a little of the market.

Just because something is cheap, doesn't necessarily mean you need to load up.

Danger Kitty

Hello Kitty, owned by Sanrio Corporation, is such a public figure, that she is drafted in to perform announcements relevant to public safety:

"Your fingers will get clamped! Danger! Stay away from the doors!"

And this reminds me a little of the market.  

Pay attention to the warning signs, and you won't get your fingers stuck in a  (punctual) electrified railway carriage.

High Technology Sushi !

Today I'm going to introduce you a very important place.

In fact, I can almost guarantee that you'll be asking yourself some important and meaningful questions.

The place in question is special in more than one way. Combining some of the world's most advanced dinning technology with an affordable price tag of only 100Y ($1) per plate, it is the Kura kaiten (conveyor belt) sushi restaurant.

Now, when you step inside, it appears fairly low-key. Perhaps even bland. But this deceptive simplicity belies some some special charms.


OK, lets start with a nice warm bowl of miso.

Filled with tasty seashells. Oh Yeah.

Now, time for some technology. Above the table is a little touch-screen panel with a head-band wearing sushi cartoon character to help us along the way.

Well, this does seem both easy to use and efficient. If you want something made for you, just press the screen. Even I can understand that!

Alternatively, wait until the relevant sign glides past, with the described plate behind it. This is salmon. "No artificial additives".

Tempting.

I recommend that you focus on your strengths. At 100Yen per plate, this is a marathon, not a race. I tend to specialise in salmon, maguro (tuna),

salmon salad,

unagi (eel),

and aburi salmon, as well as many, many others. Aburi salmon is salmon - but with a crucial twist. The fish is scorched with a blow-torch, and then covered with good stuff.

I'm getting hungry just telling you about this. So, once you've eaten the sushi, you find a plate attractively decorated with theme-based characters.

Now, what you must do, is put the colourful plate in the box at the side of the table, like this.

The plate disappears, and every five plates your touch-screen panel friend, Mr Headband, fishes for a prize on your behalf. He really is trying very hard. In this case he failed - he does look very disappointed, so I know that he's been trying.

If you win, you get one of the balls above the table. These contain a spring-wound car and other collectible plastic toys. But, every so often, they have 1000Y ($10) inside!

Now, when you decide that you want a beer, you encounter some real efficiency combined with well-thought out cleverness. Firstly, take a glass out of the fridge. The temperature is low enough for the glass to instantly frost over when you take it out.

This penguin is helpfully telling us "these glasses here are freezing cold - please use them!"

The next step is placing the glass on the automatic beer pouring machine.

Insert the 450Y ($4.5), and it starts off with a perfect beer-pouring angle.

There you go.

On the way back to your table, you can decide if you want to work in the restaurant ("shall we not work together?")

And find out how much (little) the staff are paid ($8.50-11.88/hr).

Now, this is the part where we move from the relm of quite cool, to don't-be-ridiculous cool.

What could be better than the restaurant's very own collectible playing cards with a sushi based theme!

They have a flip-file showing you the countless types available.  At the bottom of each card is a hand symbol for paper, scissors, or stone.

I only bought three packets. I'm regretting this lack of foresight already.

This one is Mrs Curie (Curie sounds like Cucumber in Japanese), strength: 3 plates, height: 165cm, age: 45, weight 45kg, hard-working Nobel-prizewinner.

Here is Moguran, this mole with an egg-round face.

Also, the yellowness makes his face pleasant - important information !

However, this is my favourite:

Sayoriman!  ("Japanese Needlefish Man" - sounds like Salaryman)

A company employee who works without rest at the beginning of spring.  Even today he is on the phone to a client.  

And, for all of this, he is only worth two plates!

And this reminds me of the market - working harder is not always correlated with success.