Cheese comes home

Or as it’s pronounced in Japanese chi · zu. Cheese is the loyal dog friend of Anpanman, Japan’s popular anime super hero character for small children. Roo has a collection of the characters, each about 2cm tall. While we’ve managed to retain most of the complete set, a few have gone missing. Because they are small and easy to clean, they often accompany us to restaurants. There is a restaurant near our home called Burger Mania where you can enjoy a juicy American style “humbaga” . We go there often, but I wouldn’t call us regulars. Prior to our visit last night, we probably hadn’t eaten there in three or four months. So last night as Roo and I were leaving, I was surprised when one of the staff presented us with a 2cm plastic puppy and asked if we might have left it behind on an earlier visit. Why yes, in fact we are missing Cheese! I felt humbled by the thoughtfulness. Seriously, would that happen anywhere else in a major city in the world? Most restaurants cramped for space would probably pitch the plastic, or less intentionally, not remember which customer amongst many left it behind. And, as we were leaving the staff took a picture of Roo wearing his explorer hard hat with the miner’s light on top. We had pretended the trek was an exploration. I guess he looked kawaii (cute).