We had some iffy weather this year. It was raining on Saturday as I drove up, and during the night as well. Come Sunday and showtime, we had an overcast yet non rainy day. The unseasonably chilly temps made for an excellent day for the dogs who are already switching into their winter coats, but left me feeling slightly crisp.
The Tenrankai was held on a riverbank, just off route 20 which is the main route connecting Yamanashi with Tokyo and the rest of the world. I spent the night in the car with Haru as I got there a day early and didn't want to miss anything this year. Had a less than wonderful sleep as there were others there with the same idea, and a great deal of 'ban-ken' (watchdog) Kai, barking every time vehicles pulled in.
Things started pretty early this year. There was an extremely high number of entries this year, and a few of the judges were unable to make it. Everything started early, and moved along at a pretty brisk pace all day long
By the time the first announcements were going out over the loudspeakers, I had hooked up with Inoue-san, Haru's breeder. They were showing several dogs this event, including Haru's sire, Riki.
Wow! What a treat. Thank you for sharing the videos, pictures and details. I hope that you and Haru enjoyed yourselves as much as I do hearing about and seeing of your trip to the Kai Ken Aigokai Tenrankai. You are a wealth of information. I hope to read a book that you have written and had published about Kai Ken someday.
ReplyDeleteThanks again,
Kim