The Deli For Dogs
I was cutting through my favorite crazy pet store in Odaiba, when I spotted what I thought was a deli counter where pet owners who had become famished while stocking up on camouflage dog strollers and duck muzzles could grab a bite, but when I looked closer, all the artfully styled food models above the refrigerator case were intended for dogs!
I know. I shouldn’t be surprised there’s gourmet take-out for canines in the land where people buy magazines devoted to the latest dog hairstyles and get up early to make doggie bento lunches for their pooches to take to obedience school, but sheesh, I honestly kind of thought those people were outliers. Apparently not.
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Jonelle Patrick View All
Writing mystery books set in Tokyo is mostly what I do, but I also blog about the odd stuff I see every day in Japan. I'm a graduate of Stanford University and the Sendagaya Japanese Institute in Tokyo, and a member of the International Thriller Writers, the Mystery Writers of America, and Sisters In Crime. When I'm not in Tokyo, I live in San Francisco. I also host a travel site called The Tokyo Guide I Wish I'd Had, so if you're headed to Japan and want to check out the places I take my friends when they're in town, take a look!
Jonelle Patrick's Only In Japan 
Hmmmmm, suffering a degree of guilt as I pour dry food into the dogs plastic bowl…
I’ll be in crazy town tomorrow so I’m way over excited 🙂 Cannot wait to see all this stuff for myself!!! 🙂
I was just thinking this morning that you must be flying to Japan just about any day now! *\(^o^)/* Travel safely, and I’m so envious that you’re getting to see it all for the first time! (And if you do Facebook, please friend me on my personal page – “Jonelle Patrick”, not “Jonelle Patrick Author” – so I can catch a glimpse of your photos & such as they happen! ^^;;)
Crazy!!! Imagine the foreigners who come and think “wow that looks good.Let’s have some” and start eating it in front of the staff. It looks so good I think I could try some just out of curiosity! Have you ever never about trying it???
I totally laughed when I read your comment, because I’m sure the people working this counter have seen foreigners eat these dishes themselves! Not that the food wouldn’t be perfectly fine for humans to eat, but those customers probably went back to their home country complaining about how bland Japanese food is, and how the deli didn’t even offer them forks…
haha so true, maybe even wrote posts about it on wordpress telling people to be careful when going to this take away (that is part pet shop)!!!
Imagine the poster : “please this food is not for foreigners” ^^
Yeah, and if they put up a sign in English saying “this food is not for people,” I can guarantee that the next time someone blogs about how racist Japan is (because some businesses – like host clubs – only allow Japanese customers, and people with tattoos are banned from public pools etc. etc. etc.) there will be a picture of that dog food sign at the top! 😛