Shiba gifts from Japan

Tags

japan, japanese dogs, jomon shibas, kai ken, shi-ba magazine, shiba inu, stationery, stickers

My sister recently went to Japan and came back to this side of the Pacific bearing Shiba gifts.

First, there was a whole sheet of bobble-headed puppies from the Mind Wave stationary company. And in the twisted Japanese convention of foodifying cute creatures, there was a sheet of Shibas as cheeseburgers, hot cakes, apple pie, berry shakes, etc. branded as “McDogs Burger” from the folks at Beverly.

More three-dimensional trinkets included a Shiba key cover from Leaps and a little metal charm from Nayutty.

The most interesting surprise was this January 2013 (vol. 68) issue of Shi-Ba magazine. The title has come to my attention before, but I’ve never actually looked through an issue. This appeals to me as a window into how Japanese Shibas are kept, discussed, and displayed for public consumption. It’s evident from the gorgeous photos that they are very much treasured as household pets, but apparently even the Japanese need feature-length reminders of breed history, what constitutes the true Shiba spirit, how “ancient” and “natural” and “wolf-life” this native breed is, and how the Shiba adapts to modern domestic paradigms.

… at least, this is some of what I gleaned from skimming with my limited Japanese literacy. There’s plenty of gratuitous fluff, but even cute stories which seem deceptively simple can be taken seriously. Maybe someday, when I have, uh, days to work on this, I’ll go through and take a closer look. Articles of interest include four pages on the Kai ken, another six pages on Jomon Shibas and the veteran hunter-breeders who keep them, more whimsical features like six pages on Shiba scratching (how and why they scratch themselves, and what owners can do to alleviate itchiness), how to prepare your Shiba to stay overnight at a friend’s house if they also have a dog (particularly adorable because the other party in this instructional article has a Kai), to more personalized narratives about a bear hunting episode with the now-gone Kouyasu-ken, and a triumphant story of a three-legged Shiba mix.

From the standpoint of someone who is interested in these kinds of visual and textual archives about human and companion animal relationships, this magazine is a goldmine. And I’m totally jealous of all the material this makes available to future canine historians, at least those who work in this particular niche.

Yup, sis had a pretty good idea of what I’d like!

Over the weekend, Bowpi learned…

Tags

basenji, basenji rescue and transport, BRAT, calendars, dog calendars

Over the weekend, Bowpi learned…

… that she can climb trees.

Certain ones with an easy “on” ramp at the dog park, anyway. The squirrels are inspiring her to go all out this season! Luckily we don’t have anything very climbable in our backyard.

Also on sale as of last weekend is the 2013 Basenji Rescue and Transport fundraiser calendar. Guess who’s on the cover!

We are really excited about this, and sincerely thank the volunteers who helped vote both of Bowpi’s pictures into the top fifteen for this year. Every year, there are a ton of great, personality-laden shots in the calendar. I think Basenji photographers generally tend to be a cut above average because one needs to be particularly clever to get nice photos of these quick dogs.

You can preview the winning photos and order your Basenji calendar over here. All proceeds go to help BRAT help more Basenjis in need.

Basenji stick figure decals

Tags

basenji, dog stickers, stickers

While I was away, I received my order of Basenji stick figure decals, designed by Linda S. of Sinbaje Basenjis. I think she’s now sold out, so I have to be VERY CAREFUL when I decide where these go!

Nanoblock Shiba and Hokkaido ken

Tags

hokkaido inu, hokkaido ken, japanese akita, nanoblock, shiba inu

As soon as I can get my stubby, cuticle-gnawed fingers to stop twitching with newtoygiddiness, maybe I’ll try to put this Hokkaido ken block set together:

And after the warmup, I’ll move onto this Shiba set!

These pictures are huge on my screen, but these pieces are extra tiny — hence the name, Nanoblock. I’d probably end up accidentally flicking a piece across the room or up my nose. Hmm, maybe I feel safer just admiring the assembled product on the page of someone else who was more confident in their dexterity.

No wonder I never have any fun! *laugh*

Edit: On second thought, these could be Japanese Akita too, given the size relative to the human figure! Hmm!

Material presence

Tags

field point, key cover, shiba inu

Thanks to Shio and Emi and Kaiju‘s people, a whole bunch of Shiba people in the U.S. now have our very own Field Point Shiba Key Covers.

Possession of this object initiates you into some weird public cult. Instead of flashing these things at each other as we pass by wordlessly on the street, we post them on our blogs.

My clutch of keys is now doubly decorated with Shibas. The personalized key ring came from Shiba Goods World (柴小物專門店) in Taiwan. They used to have a Facebook page, but disappeared some time back… I think they may have regrouped under a couple other names.

Unfortunately, Basenji trinkets that suit my tastes are generally harder to find. This is just as well, lest the house become dangerously overloaded with kitschy dog breed knickknacks and even more unnecessary (but totally cute) gewgaws!

Who needs *stuff* when the Bows already have such presence?

Roll of 28+1, day 24: Shiba Inu B@wbrick

Tags

b@wbrick, bowbrick, japanese toys, kubrick, medicom, roll of 28, shiba inu

Item: Shiba Inu B@wbrick/Bowbrick figure. This is one of six in series 1 of Medicom’s dog-themed Kubrick toys. Released October 2002 in Japan.

This figure was for sale at Jeffrey’s Toys on Market St. in San Francisco, priced at $6.98 (I think — the price tag was partially obscured on the other side, and I did not purchase it).

Items for daily consideration

Tags

basenji rescue and transport, calendars, kuranda beds, rescue, shelter challenge

Cover for the 2012 BRAT calendar (credit: R. Longcore)

The 2012 Basenji Rescue and Transport (BRAT) Calendars are now available for order! We got one last year and were very pleased with the quality and abundance of photos. This was the first year we got to participate as a voting volunteer, and we’re excited that Bowpi made it to the list of winning photos. You’ll have to check the order page to find out which one made the cut!

We would be getting a calendar even if Bowpi wasn’t part of the lineup. The variety of photos featuring all these neat little Basenjis engaged in oddly familiar (and a few surprising!) activities is one way to bridge the geographic spread of this well-organized but dispersed breed rescue. And of course, all proceeds go to helping the dogs being fostered and cared for in the BRAT system.

The BRAT calendar will look nice on the wall. Meanwhile, I have something for the desk as well, thanks to our friend Maggie who brought this weekly Shiba calendar all the way from Japan.

Sorry, I have no ordering information on this one, because I don’t know where they stock world-traveling friends who are willing to bring home dog-related goodies from the other side of the world.

If you need some other ways to count the days, might I suggest these two click campaigns that will last at least through the month of November:

The Animal Rescue Site is hosting another Shelter Challenge, with weekly prizes to top recipients. Basenji Rescue and Transport (BRAT) (look them up in Garland, Texas though volunteers are all over North America) asks for your daily clicks to stay on top of the rankings. At this time, BRAT is just barely out of the national top 10, but a few dedicated daily voters could make a difference.

Tikaani the Husky & Safyre the cat (credit: B. Bennett)

Over at Kuranda Beds, there’s a tense, seesawing stand-off between Tikaani the Siberian Husky, batting on behalf of NYC Shiba Rescue, and… well, it doesn’t matter, because we see only the couple pictured at left. The winner at the end of this month’s round of daily votes will win five Kuranda beds for the rescue of their choice.

We’re on the Shiba Side in this battle because we think NYC Shiba Rescue deserves props for emerging from their temporary hiatus last year to become one of the most organized groups we’ve got going for the breed. They’ve already done some great work in their (relatively) short time on the scene. Every bit of support keeps the momentum going! Click the picture to cast your vote!

Ganbare, Japan!

Tags

japan, shiba inu, 柴小物專門店

This image comes from Shiba Goods World (柴小物專門店), a Taiwan-based design group that makes limited runs of items featuring Shiba-centric images.

I don’t have it in me to say more about disaster profiteers at this time [edit: I mean on a broad, impersonal level, NOT referring to any fundraising efforts I see happening from individuals whom I know genuinely care about and are affected by the unfolding events]. At any rate, this particular image is not for sale. You’re free to download and use it to show your [non-commercial] support of the ongoing rescue and recovery efforts in Japan.

Gifting afar, and bringing it back home: Our first GIVEAWAY!

Tags

animal shelters, free stuff, hello kitty, iiwaken, japanese stationery, kuranda beds, mutts, origami, pit bulls, rescue, san-x, shelter animals, shiba inu, sleep, stationery, tuapa

I had a rough theme for this week’s entries, shuttling back and forth between Here and There, Local and Global, the idea of using small acts to make a world of difference, even when immediate change is perceptible only in private… yadda yadda. Things didn’t cohere quite as I intended, but that’s why this blog is always a work in progress.

Over the months, I’d been collecting goodies for a House of Two Bows giveaway, but it didn’t occur to me until this week how I was going to execute it. Not until I stopped by my local animal shelter and spoke to their volunteer director about their donation needs did I finally realize how I wanted to end this week.

Photo taken 8 December 2010. Adoptable pound puppy Rusty. What can I say? I’m a sucker for red dogs.

My local animal shelter could use spare towels, blankets, bath mats. Durable chew toys and rope toys — big, black Kongs and whatnot. They’re doing okay with food, though they could sometimes stand to have more limited ingredient and hypoallergenic foods on hand for dogs with allergies.

They could also use a few more beds for the dogs in their care. While Rusty the pittie above has his own bed, not every kennel is currently equipped to keep its resident off the cold, concrete floors.

So they’re asking for donations of Kuranda beds, which can be ordered online and shipped directly to them. This is where you and the House of Two Bows comes in…

We’re giving away one GRAND PRIZE package which consists of:

• Animal Origami cubes by Toyo Japan featuring Shiba Inu and puppies, rabbits, turtles, cat and kittens, chickens.
• A diecut Shiba memo block from Greeting Life stationery.
• A B5 Notebook featuring a Shiba on cover from Kyowa stationery.
• A set of San-X Iiwaken notebook tab stickers and one sheet of various dog stickers from Tanpopo.
• A Kuranda bed donated to my local animal shelter in your name.

In addition, several runner-ups (at least three) will receive:

• A DIY charm of Hello Kitty dressed up as a Shiba Inu — there’s a little silver loop attached to the tiny little figure, so you can turn it into a necklace, a cell phone dangle, or whatever (see below).
• A bilingual Chinese-English 2011 pocket diary/planner from the Taichung Universal Animal Protection Association, TUAPA. They did such a nice job with this, I ordered a whole stack to redistribute, as I really think they’re doing good work.

All you have to do to participate is leave a comment to this entry below and answer the question: Where do your pets sleep? If you don’t have any pets at the moment, but would still like to enter, you can just answer where you think you’d like them to sleep.

In order to be eligible, please make sure to fill in the e-mail address field when leaving your comment. AFAIK, your e-mail address will not be made public, but that way, I can contact you if you win.

Entries will be accepted through next Friday, December 17th. One unique entry per pet will be accepted, though comments will have to be separated to count (yes, that means multi-animal households are at an advantage!). Unfortunately, comments for future or not-yet-existent or imaginary pets must all be consolidated under one entry. Winners will be chosen at random. They will be e-mailed privately after the close of the giveaway for their names and mailing addresses.

Why am I doing this?

Because I’m an inveterate packrat, and I go through periodic purges where I try to rehome a bunch of my possessions. Because I’ve been doing this blog nearly every day for months now, and I’m curious as to who’s reading. Because it’s fun to do giveaways, especially around this time of year. Because I love mail, both sending and receiving it. Because blogs have long been a medium for me to try and connect my personal life with the world that surrounds me in concrete ways, and this seemed a fun way to make that philosophy manifest.

Photo taken 30 November 2010

Ultimately, I’m doing this because I want to try and inspire a little bit of generosity in the world, a way to pay it forward, as it were. Our own dogs get to sleep in relative comfort, every night.

Bowdu has his place at the foot of the bed, which he prefers…

And Bowpi has learned to stretch and expand into available space on the human bed, a habit which we actually find rather endearing. In their sleep, they appear to be such angels (perhaps why I have so many pictures of sleeping dogs!). In their dreams, they are the epitome of “blissful ignorance,” for they can remain unaware of a less than cozy world.

At the House of Two Bows, we may not be rolling in cash, but we’re doing okay. While we don’t have an answer for every pleading pair of eyes, and neither are we expecting everyone else to save them all, I think the least we can do is try and help others get to be okay, too.

Adoptable Schnauzer-Poodle, Buddy

Then we’ll work on being more than okay, one step at a time.

Package from Japan

Tags

art, shiba inu, shibakenjinkai

I love getting things in the mail!

Photo taken 14 November 2010

Print 01738 from Shibakenjinkai by Tatsuro Kiuchi

This picture contains two of my favorite things: postal mail, and a Shiba Inu. (Maybe Bowpi is a little disappointed that there is no comic rendering of a Basenji in the artist’s portfolio.)

I had to order a print of my own. It arrived last week.

It’s even nicer in person than it is on a computer screen. Now to find a nice frame for it…

There are many other whimsical, minimalist, and downright surreal pieces in the series. Check it out by clicking the link above. Inquiries can be sent to the artist at flickr@tatsurokiuchi.com.

He also has a really adorable Shiba named Chai.

Sourced from an album of supreme cuteness