Daily Archives: July 24, 2011

Coco the Dog…

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Always when we are in Tokorozawa most of our attention is on Coco the dog. He is just too cute. Even cuter than I am 😉 And Coco the dog usually loves being in the center of attention. Though when Chie (the dog?) tried to steal his chewy chicken meat stick he was not so happy. Which I can totally understand.



But even though Chie sometimes steals his meat sticks, Coco loves Chie. When she is not around he just goes crazy for a while and then sits and waits for her. If we are at home his favorite spot is on top of the back of a chair in the living room where he can watch the garden and street outside. If we are in the car he takes a position where he can look out the window towards the direction from where Chie will return.

Truth is, he is a strange dog. But a very cute one 🙂

Typical Japanese Way

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Walking with Coco the dog in Tokorozawa I usually pass by a few things that are so typical Japanese. Actually, come to think about it, there are only two things. Trust and honesty, or more correctly trust in others that they will be honest.

This may manifest itself in different ways. In Tokorozawa where there are a lot of small local farmers one of the manifestations is that the farmers put up small unmanned vegetable shops. They put the vegetables in the kiosk and expect people to put money in a box in exchange for the vegetables. And it works. Nobody is stealing. Not the vegetables and not the money in the box.



Another manifestation is that people leave porcelain on the doorstep for the delivery guy to pick it up after they finished eating whatever was delivered in the first place. This is a usual way with soba restaurants that also do delivery. No disposable plates. Just solid porcelain and reusable utensils and chopsticks.



The trust in honesty here is that the expectation is that nobody will steal the utensils. I think in Sweden it would be gone before you can say Stop the Thief. In US it would probably be gone before you even put it down 😉

This is one of the best aspects of Japan. People are honest. And they trust that everyone else are honest as well.