Sakura!!!

So Jenn is back home in Houston for a couple of weeks, so I'm going to try to catch up on some blog posts here.

As has been well-documented here, Cosmo arrived in Japan a couple of weeks ago.  So we've been adjusting to having him here and he's been adjusting to life on a leash.  One of our big concerns was where we could take him on walks, to get exercise, etc.  

Some of Jenn's friends with dogs said they take their dogs in the taxi cabs.  This struck us as somewhat odd since the cabs here have almost like lace covers on the seats and some of the taxi drivers wear white gloves (in addition to their suits).  But we decided to give it a shot last weekend.... sure enough, no problem.  He just has to stay on the floor, but so far we are 4 for 4.

This has opened up a whole new world to Cosmo, namely Yoyogi Koen (or park) which is right in the middle of Tokyo and has an off-leash dog park.  The pics in the album below are over two different trips to the park.  The park is entertaining on a number of different levels, but dog-wise the best part is the outfits on the little dogs.  And Cosmo is a huge hit here... we've more people talk to us in the last three weeks than we have in the prior 6 months.  Lots of people wanting his picture, wanting to pet him... he seems to take it in stride.

This weekend also marked the beginning of the cherry blossom (or sakura) season, so I snapped some photos of those as well.  Accompanying the sakura are the hanami.  Hanami are kind of like picnics to celebrate the arrival of the cherry blossoms.  In current form they involve laying a tarp down and taking a bunch of food and booze to the park.  People will get there hours in advance to stake out their area with the tarp and a sign indicating who it belongs to.  The best comparison back home would almost be like tailgating before a football game - some people had kegs, generators, etc.  

These pics really don't give you a good idea of how many people were at Yoyogi this weekend - some areas were just crammed with people.  And apparently it is better to be directly under a sakura - near one is not good enough.

I think next weekend will be better for the blossoms though.  This weekend was supposed be the peak, but it was very cold this week.  They only last about a week or so - some sort of metaphor for fleeting nature of beauty.... pretty while they're here though.