Good bye Japan / バイバイ日本

On the day we left Japan, we took a walk in the morning with Alex...Jay was still asleep :p

日本を発つ朝はジェイはまだ寝てたから　アレックスとお散歩。

Good bye uncle Kishin!

布団に埋もれているおじちゃんにバイバイ。（笑）

Saying good bye to Mom, Grandma, Jay and Nana.

ママ　おばあちゃん　ジェイ　ナナ　にバイバイ。

Dad had to go to Tokyo on Sunday for the work.  We said good bye already on Sunday.
パパは仕事で日曜に東京に行ってしまったので　すでに日曜にお別れをしてました。

My best friends drove us to the airport!!!  I usually travel alone but it was really nice to have someone sending me off at the airport.

親友達が空港まで車で送ってくれましたぁ！旅はいつも1人だから　見送りがいるって結構嬉しいなぁ(*^^*)

At the quarantine office.  Mato checked.  Paper checked ;)

検疫所で　Matoのチェックと　書類のチェック。

We had little time before we checked in.  Had little lunch together with my friends.  It would be hard to go in to a restaurant with all the baggages and Mato.  We decided to have little take away in the open space.  I let Mato out of the crate a little while :p

ちょっと時間があるからご飯！レストランだとMatoが入れなそうだから　オープンスペースで。隅っこでMatoを少しクレートから出してあげたよん。

I thought it'd be better to give Mato a little exercise before the long flight so that he could get tired and sleep through the flight.

We went down to the first floor.  Right outside the entrance was bus stops so we went little far to avoid the bus stops so we wouldn't bother people.  Then we started to take a walk and jog a little.  Then this security guy ran towards us and told me I couldn't take a walk with a dog over here.  I was like WHAT THE F***!?  It's freaking outside!!!  Where the heck do dogs like Mato who travel supposed to take a walk around here!!??  He told me to go to the other end of the building and there's a lawn where dogs were allowed to be. 

Matoを預ける前に　飛行機の中で疲れて寝ていけるように　少し運動させてあげようと思い外へ。

１階のエントランスから外へ出たら　目の前はバス停だったから　バス停からちょっと離れた建物の端の方でちょっと小走りに歩き始めたら　前の方から警備のおっさんが走ってこっちへ。んでもって　"ここで犬の散歩はできまん！"。　　私  "はっっっ！？ここ外ですけど。どこで散歩をしろと！？"　Matoみたいに長旅に出なきゃいけない犬たちはどこで散歩をしろと！？　反対側に芝の場所があるからそこならいいって警備のおっさんが言うので　そっちへ。

Here we are.  Only this freaking little space right next to the quarantine building is for the dogs.  I just wanted a decent walk around the area but all we could do was back and forth on this lawn...

And I heard that Haneda airport was the cleanest airport in the world.  Of course, they don't give animals any rights to walk around area so that they can keep the place CLEAN!!!

はい　来た　ここ。

"はっ！？！？！？　狭っ！！"　

普通に歩き回って散歩したかっただけなのに　この狭い場所の端から端を行ったり来たりしかできなかった。友達が教えてくれたけど　羽田空港って世界で一番綺麗なんだって。まぁ　そりゃそうっしょ。動物から外を歩く権利を奪って綺麗にしてんだから。

This guard guy is different from the one who told us to come to this place.
He understands and says that dogs should walk around, not only this place.
この警備のおじさんはまた違う人。検疫ビルの警備のおじさん。
犬好きで"ここだけじゃかわいそうだねぇ"って言ってMatoに挨拶したよぉ。

I got shocked.  In the airport building, animals have to be in the crates.  Also outside around the area.  I got used to seeing dogs in the airport walking in Sweden, also walking with Kaiya in the airport myself.  

This is the differences between Sweden and Japan how they think about the animal rights.  Yes, Japan has more restaurants and cafes where dogs are allowed and they even have the menu for the dogs.  But dogs are still sold in pet shops and more than 15,000 dogs are killed by gas every year in Japan.  And I hear horrible stories about people leaving their adult dogs at the public health center because they got new puppies.   Leaving dogs at the public health center means almost as same as leaving them to be killed.  Of course, more and more people who understand the animal rights started to work hard to stop the killing and as a result, the number decreases every year.  But the number is still high.  I really hope that the day the number becomes 0 comes real soon.   

スウェーデンで　普通に空港の中を犬と歩き回ってる風景を見てるし　自分もKaiyaと空港内を歩いたことあるから　これはショッキングだったぁ。建物の中もダメ&外もダメ。これがスウェーデンと日本の動物に対する理解の違いだよね。

日本には確かに犬同伴で入れるレストランやカフェが多い。犬用のメニューまであるしね。でもその一方でまだペットショップで売られる犬たちに　毎年１５，０００以上の犬が殺処分される日本。しかも安楽死じゃなく　最悪に苦しまなきゃいけないガスで。新しい仔犬を買うから長年飼ってきた先住犬を保健所に置いていくというひどい話もたくさん聞いたことがある。犬は物じゃない。その一方　今では殺処分をなくそうと一生懸命働く人たちもいる。殺処分の数は確かに毎年減ってるとはいうものの　その数はまだまだ多すぎる。殺処分０の日が早く来ることを願うと同時に　こんなに離れているから寄付くらいしかできないかもだけど　犬達の為　そして少しでもこういった運動をしている人たちのために貢献できたらと思う。

Sorry, I got little heated up.  Time to check in at the counter.

・・・ちょっと熱くなりすぎました〜(^^;)　次はついにカウンターにてチェックインです。

I bought this crate according to the Lufthansa's middle size cage measurements.  But they told me it was tiny bit bigger when they measured at the place.  Now this is what I like about Lufthansa.  They decided to only charge me the price for the middle size cage even though it was little bigger.  Thank god!! Otherwise, I'd have to pay the double amount.  The total for Mato's traveling cost was USD 200. 

Since I couldn't put water in the bottle because of the regulations, I asked them if Mato would have water during the flight.  The answer was actually no.  They told me that he would get the water supplied once landed in the first destination where we transfer, which is in Frankfurt.  It would be 12 hour flight, and we checked in about one hour before the departure.  He would be without water for 13 hours!!!  

Anyways, after checking in, I was asked by the kind lady at the check-in counter if I wanted to send him off to the elevator.  I said, no.  I'd already said bye and I thought I would cry if I followed to the elevator.  See you in Sweden, Mato!!

ルフトハンザ規定の中型のクレートのサイズを買ったのに　ここで測ったらちょっとオーバーって言われた(￣◇￣;)　けど　ルフトハンザのナイスなはからいで　中型の値段でオッケーに。ってことで　Matoさんの旅費は２００ドル。日本円で２１４００円なり。

水は入れておいてはダメだから　空のペットボトルをつけて　飛行機の中で水を飲めるようにしてくれるのかと思いきや　カウンターのお姉さん曰く　乗り換えのフランクフルトで給水されるとのこと(T_T)　長いじゃん！１２時間のフライト&約１時間前のチェックインだから　１３時間くらい水無し！！頑張れMato！

手続きが終わってMatoさんが　"エレベーターまで行くのをお見送りしますか？" ってカウンターの優しいお姉さんに言われたけど　もう涙が出そうだから　"いいです"　って断ってここで暫くのお別れ。頑張れMato！スウェーデンで会おう！