A Man's Best Friend

 The Czech writer Milan Kundera said, "Dogs are our link to paradise. They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring--it was peace."  

  If I were to introduce the words of Milan Kundera into a classroom back in Kuwait, I would be met with students passionately disagreeing.  Traditionally, in Islam, dogs are seen as impure and the phrase "the dog is a man's best friend" would be seen as pure indoctrination of the Western culture.  Over the seven years that I was in Kuwait, I did see a small shift in attitude towards dogs.  During our first stay in Kuwait in 2002, it was not uncommon for teachers to have rocks thrown at their dog by children in the street.  If a dog were to come near a child or adult, they would often run away in fear.  By 2009, I began to see more dogs on the walking paths, but even these were far and few between.  To have a dog as a pet is not common practice, and is seen as dirty by most. 

If I were to introduce the words of Milan Kundera into a Japanese classroom, the students would be whole heartily agreeing.  A dog in Japan, is a literal extension of the family.  It is more than just anthropomorphizing here;  dogs literally become "humans" to the Japanese.  A dog is treated just as well as a child, and if there is no child in the house, it replaces the child.  If you spend a couple of hours on the streets of Japan, you will quickly know what I mean.  Dogs in clothes, dogs in strollers, dogs in pet parlours,  dogs in dog bakeries, dogs in restaurants (those that permit) eating off chopsticks, and dogs shopping for luxery items to enhance their lives.  I have one friend who told me that when she first got to Japan she went out looking for diapers for her son and all she could find were dog diapers.  "It's a dog's life" takes on a whole new meaning here.

The special treatment of dogs in Japan may have its roots in the the story of "Hachiko and Eisabura";  a famous Japanese story between man and his dog.

In 1923, a yellow-coated Atika dog was born and became known as little "Hachi" (Hachiko was his formal name).  A professor named Eisabura, adopted Hachi and the two became fast friends.  Each morning the dog would accompany his master to the Shibuya train station, and each evening the dog would be waiting for Eisabura at the same spot he left.  The two continued this routine until May 1925, when Eisabura did not return from work as usual.  That day he had a suffered a stroke and died, never to return to the station.
Hachiko was given away after his master's death, but he routinely escaped, showing up again and again at his old home. After time, Hachi apparently realized that Professor Uyeno no longer lived at the house, so he went to look for his master at the train station where he had accompanied him so many times before. Each day, Hachiko waited for Eisabura to return and each day he didn't see his friend.  Soon the other train passengers realized that Hachiko waited in vigil for his dead master and they brought Hachiko treats and food to nourish him during his wait.
News of Hachiko's remarkable loyalty eventually made its way outside of Tokyo, and he became something of an iconic figure in Japan.  A statue of Hachiko forged by sculptor Ando Teru was erected at the train station in 1934, where Hachiko had been awaiting his master's return each day for nearly 10 years.  On March 8, 1935, Hachiko laid down to die in the spot where he had spent a decade waiting each day for his master to come home.

It is hard to argue that the belief that a dog is a man's best friend is western indoctrination when you hear a story like this.  On the other had, it is hard to believe that dogs (and many other animals) are being treated better than most children around the world. (I know that Japan is not the only place this is happening).  No matter what your feelings about dogs, I think we can all agree with Franklin P Jones: "Scratch a dog and you'll find a permanent job."