Monday, November 08, 2004
A Japanese Moment
It was one of those moments that you know you'll never get an explanation for... or even be sure you want to know why.
We had wandered from Okachimachi almost to Ueno, in Tokyo. Along Ameyoko,with the streetside shops busily selling this and that, and the crowds happily strolling along, shopping, shopping, shopping.
And off to the side, there it is.
Imagine, for a moment, Hello Kitty - the cartoon cat, that is mostly a circle with two eyes, a mouth, and whiskers. But make it a stuffed Hello Kitty, okay? White and fluffy.
Now put that stuffed animal in a hamburger bun. Yes, have the cat lie down prone in the bun, feet out one end, head and hands out the other end. Make the cat a bit fat, so it fills the bun pretty well.
Got it? Hello Kitty patty on a bun, right? White fur and a brown bun.
Next, blow up your imaginary picture to about a meter tall (three feet) by say a meter and a half (four or five feet) across. And motorize the whole thing, so it can slowly cruise down the sidewalk.
That's what we saw on the street. There were two people obviously shepherding it along. But mostly people weren't turning and staring, just going on about their business.
And at least for a while, I'm going to wonder why Hello Kitty was in a hamburger bun.
I'm not going to think too hard about why someone turned this into a motorized reality, although that's probably worth some pondering.
But why a Hello Kitty sandwich?
I probably don't really want to know, do I?
It was one of those moments that you know you'll never get an explanation for... or even be sure you want to know why.
We had wandered from Okachimachi almost to Ueno, in Tokyo. Along Ameyoko,with the streetside shops busily selling this and that, and the crowds happily strolling along, shopping, shopping, shopping.
And off to the side, there it is.
Imagine, for a moment, Hello Kitty - the cartoon cat, that is mostly a circle with two eyes, a mouth, and whiskers. But make it a stuffed Hello Kitty, okay? White and fluffy.
Now put that stuffed animal in a hamburger bun. Yes, have the cat lie down prone in the bun, feet out one end, head and hands out the other end. Make the cat a bit fat, so it fills the bun pretty well.
Got it? Hello Kitty patty on a bun, right? White fur and a brown bun.
Next, blow up your imaginary picture to about a meter tall (three feet) by say a meter and a half (four or five feet) across. And motorize the whole thing, so it can slowly cruise down the sidewalk.
That's what we saw on the street. There were two people obviously shepherding it along. But mostly people weren't turning and staring, just going on about their business.
And at least for a while, I'm going to wonder why Hello Kitty was in a hamburger bun.
I'm not going to think too hard about why someone turned this into a motorized reality, although that's probably worth some pondering.
But why a Hello Kitty sandwich?
I probably don't really want to know, do I?
