Today I took Yuki to the vet for her vaccination. I always take her to the Nomura Veterinary Clinic in Nakano because this doctor is especialized in exotic pets. Not just ferrets, but all kind of animals that other doctors wouldn’t even dare to touch. Almost everybody in Tokyo who owns a ferret brings his to this clinic.

As an example, one day I saw a man come to Dr. Nomura with his 5-6 marmosets on his back . Click to enlarge.

Dr. Nomura’s clinic is a bit far from home, so I can’t just take Yuki and bring her there. I have to put her in her carrier cage and either take the train (inconvenient) or a taxi. We took a taxi today.

Yuki relaxing in her carrier on the taxi to the vet.

Every time you take your pet to Dr. Nomura he does a checkup to check that your little furry (or scaly, if you’re bringing a snake) is healthy. Usually there are no problems and your pet gets a vaccine or some other medication, and then you pay and go home.

Today it was a bit different…

If you’re following me on Facebook or Twitter then you already learnt about this earlier today:

This morning we went to Ginza for some important shopping, and afterwards we headed for the Sony Building. The reason: an exhibition opened there last week about the design of Sony products, and they have on display one of the coolest-looking MSX computers ever produced: a red HIT-BIT HB-101.

Sony Design: MAKING MODERN
Place: Sony Building (8th floor), Ginza
Admission fee: Free
Companion book: Sony Design: Making Modern
Held from April 29th to June 14th, 2015

Sony HIT-BIT HB-101 (Red). Click to enlarge.

The Kanamara Matsuri (かなまら祭り, steel phallus festival) is a shinto event organized by the Kanayama shrine (金山神社, Kanayama Jinja) in the Kawasaki province. It takes place the first Sunday of April every year.

This festival has its origins in the Edo period (1603 – 1868), when the town’s prostitutes visited the shrine to pray for protection against syphilis. Currently the festival is dedicated to fertility and it collects funds for HIV research.

The events start at eleven in the morning. There are performances of traditional Japanese music and dance, and also a very fun penis-shaped daikon (Japanese radish) carving contest. Around the shrine grounds there are stalls selling candy and key rings also shaped like penises or vaginas. This year there were also one or two stalls selling adult sex toys.

Around one in the afternoon the visitors go on a procession around the town carrying two mikoshi (神輿, portable shinto shrines) and a wooden cart carrying a huge ping penis.

After the procession many of the visitors head to the Kawasaki Daishi (川崎大師), a very beautiful buddhist shrine around ten minutes walking from there. The avenue to the entrance of the temple grounds has many shops selling souvenirs and food, that reminds me very much of the Nakamise street before the Senso-ji temple in Asakusa.

Enjoy the photos. Feel free to let me know if you’re interested in going next year, because I’ll go again too.

Keep reading to see the photo gallery.