The cat welfare scam has recently become a common sight in high-traffic areas of Kyoto such as bridges and station exits. Dubious-looking gentlemen (to say the least) solicit donations under the pretense that they are animal welfare angels, and indeed they have rounded up some stray cats and put them in boxes or cages, along with pictures that seem to be cut out of magazines or brochures. Please don’t feed the scammers.
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Dr Jim says:
Aug 11, 2005
See! Even the street scoundrels are neat, tidy and organised. Japan really is too neat. Over here I guess they’d just club you with a dead cat :o)
More photos! Show me clean and pristine living so I can aspire to it ;o)
Pam says:
Aug 11, 2005
Wow. That reminds me of the guy (I think it was a guy) I used to see with cats in a cage in the underground labyrinth of Umeda. He was always on the incline near Daimaru. That was in the late 80s/early 90s.
nils says:
Aug 11, 2005
Pam, it’s sweltering here. Don’t you miss it? I left Osaka before l could tell who was going to win the shotengai turf war between the discount Israeli mafia and the discount Russian mafia. I once saw the Israeli Shinsaibashi shotengai enforcer guy grab a magician/clown in the middle of his act and start beating him up in front of the shoppers who stopped to watch his show. That was something.
Jessica says:
Aug 11, 2005
Oh, my goodness. I thought they were really doing a good thing when I was in Kyoto. I even took pictures of the cats and petted them.
…shows what I know. At least the people in front of the Takashimaya there looked shady enough for me to keep clear.
Pam says:
Aug 15, 2005
Nils, I really don’t miss anything weather related to summer in Japan. When it gets hot and humid and everyone here is crabbing away about it, I mostly just think it’s not nearly as bad as it was in Japan.
During my very first week in Japan I went out one night and sold holographic pictures with an Israeli guy I met at the gaijin house I was staying at. That was an interesting experience and my first exposure to drunk salarymen. I never really saw the Israeli street merchants in Osaka and completely missed the whole discount Russian mafia.