Posts Tagged ‘cats’

Kitten Delays Tokyo Trains

Morning commuters experienced delays yesterday on JR’s Keihin Tohoku line because trains had to stopped to allow workers to rescue a trapped kitten:

As the train sped down the line between Kanagawa prefecture and Tokyo, somebody reported hearing meowing sounds from underneath one of its cars. The train made an emergency stop at Kamata station, where workers found a 3-month-old kitten clinging to the space between the floor and the wheels.

The incident caused the train to halt for about 25 minutes at Kamata station, holding up a total of 15 trains. The delay impacted the commutes of about 23,000 people.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

How Much is That Kitty in the Window?

“Nanikore” finds a soba restaurant in Tokyo with something strange in its meal display case:

Many restaurants in Japan attract new customers by displaying example dishes from their menus in glass cases. At this restaurant, there is a live cat inside the display case!

The cat is named Pink. Three years ago, he was a stray cat that liked to hang out around the shop. The owner decided to adopt Pink, and make him the store mascot. One day, the owner let Pink hang out in the display window, and the cat loved it. Pink can now be seen there every day (but only during the two hours before the restaurant opens).

Location of the restaurant on Google Maps:

View Larger Map

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

New product aims to keep away stray cats

A short news clip about the “Black Cat Scat,” a product that promises to keep away stray cats:

The woman at the beginning of the video had a big problem with stray cats entering her garage and wrecking havoc around her garden. Since she set up the devices, she’s had no trouble with stray cats.

The device appears to be a little cat face with reflector eyes stuck on top of the the traditional anti-cat plastic water bottle. The makers of the “Black Cat Scat” have set up a shop in Tokyo and take orders through an online shop.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Cat Massage

A cat in Japan that loves his master’s electric back massager:

(Posted at the request of a Google Japan guy who thinks this site doesn’t feature enough cat videos.)

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• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
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Cat wants squid (not tuna)

A Japanese master offers his cat tuna, but the animal makes it clear that squid is preferable:

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Japanese love cats that sit like humans

Over at the pet section of Yahoo! Japan, a “Suko-zuwari” photo contest is in progress. “Suko-zuwari” is a word created by Japanese cat lovers to describe the amusing human-like sitting style of some cats. The behavior is most commonly found in Scottish Folds, so the first part of “Scottish” [スコティッシュ] was combined with word for “sitting” [座り] to make “suko-zuwari“　[スコ座り].

FTV’s “Mezamashi TV” morning show recently ran a segment about the online photo contest, visiting a cat cafe to observe some “suko-zuwari“:

They find a few cats sitting in just such a pose, and comments are made about how it resembles the sitting style of lazy middle-aged men.

A cat expert says that cats often make various poses while licking themselves clean, and it is possible that some cats discover through their cleaning routines that the “suko-zuwari” position is comfortable. Only male cats seem to sit that way, and it may have something to do with their own desire to smell themselves.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)