What is a rabbit festival, you ask? We had no idea until we got there! It was full of booths selling rabbit arts and crafts, feed vendors, a vet, photographers…basically the same as Convention minus club booths. Rabbit enthusiasts of all kinds were there, from breeders and exhibitors to pet owners and those who were just fans. Everyone seemed to happily coexist. Isn’t that a nice idea? The festival was a huge success with 2,000 visitors!
Japan is quite humid, and the sun was shining when we got up to head to the show, fortunately the clouds rolled in and kept things cool. As for the show and the day, I’m going to let the pictures speak. I will probably remember this one for a long time as ”favorite show I’ve ever judged,” and that’s saying a LOT, since I’ve been fortunate enough to judge lots of wonderful, well-run shows in the past 11 years.
The floor of this building was bright green, and unfortunately that tended to bleed into the photos, so I apologize for the greenness. Digital camera photos tended to turn out better than did my iPhone photos, however that was the only thing I had with battery power! (Click on any photo to enlarge)
Setup for the show. The group in the RAP jackets are students from the equivalent of a two-year agricultural college
While setup was going on, Scott and I went around the booths and did some shopping. The variety of rabbit crafts and items was better than Convention!
This vendor had a lot of Dutch items, so I spent most of my money here! I'm not a doily person, but the ones you see in the right side of the photo are Dutch, so I had to get one! I also picked up a small framed painting of a tort and two crocheted cell phone charms in blue and tort.
Another booth featuring handmade rabbit crafts
(Non-rabbit people, bear with me...the rabbit fans are really enjoying these!)
Another booth with adorable rabbity creations!
I wanted one of everything, but I had only so many yen and so much space in the suitcase!
A booth for a feed company
And one for a vet
Rabbits for sale. Festival-goers were a mix of breeders and exhibitors, pet owners and people who are just rabbit fans! It is the Year of the Rabbit in Japan.
Tags on the cages of Dutch for sale. I assume the top tag is for a show quality rabbit and the bottom tag is for a pet. How much is this? I'll just say that for the price of the pet, you can buy a very nice rabbit in the US.
The Flemish was even more!
We all are!
Sunday's awards
Pink ribbons for me
and green for Scott
Judging American Fuzzy Lops with my super-sweet translator, Hiro
My table help, who spent the whole day with the control sheets and comment cards. He had a big surprise for us...
He got MARRIED over lunch break!!!
The lovely and bubbly club secretary Masako officiated, while club president Koichiro served as best man. We learned that in Japan, the marriage is legalized with the license, and anyone can conduct a ceremony.
The couple was kind enough to pose for a picture with us
That afternoon, I chose a Dwarf for BIS. He was one of the few rabbits who was also at Saturday's show, and he looked even better on Sunday!
RIS was a Holland Lop owned by Mariko Nio. I visited her rabbit shop on my first trip in 2005.
She also had Best Junior with a blue otter Dwarf!
Sunday's hardworking show staff
We couldn't resist snapping our photo in this! Before we knew it, we were surrounded by people and cameras and heard "Facebook!" several times!
After the show, we went to a traditional Japanese restaurant where we knelt and sat on the floor. Instead of several tables in a large room, each table is in its own room.
Our server brought food and drinks to us through a door, which was between the two ladies in the photo
Scott's new friend thought he looked like Tom Cruise
This was the first dish we were served at the restaurant. It was a stew consisting of fish and vegetables that was cooked in the bowl at the table. This dish originates from fishermen in Hokkaido.
