Tokyo Times

Photographs from a small group of islands

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Dog fighting diversion?

Perhaps hoping to take some of the heat off their whale hunting and dolphin killing countrymen, the residents of Kochi in western Japan held one of their traditional dog fighting contests over the weekend, with tenacious Tosa dogs tackling each other’s, erm, tackle.

tosa dog fighting

The fights themselves, whilst far from affable, are thankfully not to the death, with a set of judges scoring the animals on temperament, stamina and injuries inflicted, allowing successful entrants to gradually work their way up the ranks — the top slot being reserved for the Yokozuna.

Like this cuddly looking companion for example.

tosa_yokozuna.jpg

For a bit more in-depth info, this post in the Tokyo Times archive is possibly worth a peek.

Or not as the case may be.

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Farming fashion

With the Japanese being such feverish followers of fashion, it’s not surprising that even tradesman are picky about their appearance, with puffed-out Hammer-esque pants and fancy footwear very much the order of the day.

japanese working wear

A sense of style that has now also reached the formerly frumpy world of farming, with the Japan Knitwear Designers Association (JAKDA) attempting to halt a declining interest in agriculture by establishing ‘agrifashion‘, somewhat optimistically hoping that it “will help promote farming not only as a worthwhile occupation, but also a cool and trendy one.”

The winning designs at the Tokyo event however appear to suggest that they still have some way to go.

tokyo farming fashion

Although that said, 70-year-old style guru and seeding specialist Junko Suzuki appeared to be quite impressed — the bonnets in particular getting plenty of praise.

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Her only reservation being the flaunting of what she considered to be just a little too much flesh.

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Japanese crab-like contraption

The Volkswagen Beetle it has to be said doesn’t look anything like a beetle. And to be honest, neither does the comical car captured below.

But whether intentional or not, the Tokyo trundler does bear more than a passing resemblance to a crustacean — of sorts.

small japanese car

(click image for higher-res rubbish runabout)