Stuffed 'jumbo rabbit' on display in Japan's Akita Pref. amid decrease in breeders
Alongside Akita dogs and Hinai-jidori chickens, the Hataya rabbit is a unique animal to the region, primarily bred in Misato. While the rabbit is famous for its pure white fur, the number of local breeders is declining, and concerned parties in the town hope that more people will get to know and start breeding the animal.
The stuffed rabbit, which has been on display since the end of May, is named Shirayuki-go. The female rabbit was raised by Seiichi Takahashi and his wife Seiko, both 78. Shirayuki-go, measuring approximately 60 centimeters in length and weighing about 7.5 kilograms, was provided to the town in November 2024. Rabbits in the town were widely bred during World War II for their fur and meat. However, the number of breeders has been decreasing in recent years due to the space and effort required for breeding and the rising cost of feed, with only two households currently raising the animals in the town.
In the past, the town's support for the protection and use of rabbits at farms across Misato was limited, relying on the self-help efforts of breeders, contributing to the decline in breeders. However, the Takahashis' rabbits have been exhibited annually in Tokyo, and Crown Prince Akishino (Fumihito) and Crown Princess Kiko also visited to see the animal and showed interest. There is also growing interest from residents outside the prefecture and foreigners, and the auction prices at the annual autumn jumbo rabbit festival in the neighboring city of Daisen have been increasing each year.
At the unveiling ceremony for the stuffed rabbit, Misato Mayor Tomomi Matsuta said, "This stuffed specimen is considered a means to prevent the loss of jumbo rabbits from our town. We hope that visitors to the museum who see it will understand our town's sentiments and that the specimen will live on forever."
Seiichi Takahashi expressed his joy, saying, "My wife and I have been raising rabbits for over half a century. I'm delighted with this new display and hope to pass on this breeding culture to future generations as a treasure of the town."
The museum is considering further displays, including panels introducing the Hataya rabbit and items related to its breeding history. The facility is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Admission is 300 yen (about $2) for adults and free for high school students and younger. For inquiries, call 0187-88-8706 (in Japanese).
(Japanese original and video by Akira Kudo, Akita Bureau)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
SoraNews24
2 hours ago
- SoraNews24
Rental grandma service growing in Japan, can help cook or break up with boyfriends
Get a grandma delivered right to your door. As we've seen time and time again, the cost of living is steadily on the rise in Japan, and while it's expected that wages will rise to keep pace, the same may not be true for the elderly living on pensions. Because their monthly allotments are just barely covering the necessities in life, many seniors are seeking work to ensure they have some savings as well. According to the Statistics Bureau of Japan, there are about 9.3 million people working over the age of 65. This amounts to about one in four seniors remaining in the workforce after retirement age. This all sounds pretty bleak, but one service is seeing this as a positive and regarding the elderly of Japan as a valuable human resource. ▼ See? This guy's totally wired and ready to rock. The service is called OK Obaachan, and for a fee of 3,300 yen to cover transportation and a 3,300 yen per hour rate, you can have your very own grandma. They currently have a roster of about 100 ladies aged 60 to 94 and with a range of abilities from housework, interpersonal skills, historical knowledge, and life experience. According to the OK Obaachan website, they have been getting a lot of requests for an incredibly wide range of uses, such as teaching how to cook, mediating family disputes, writing things with nice penmanship, and babysitting. They are often also called upon to act as pillars of emotional support and have been requested by men planning to come out as gay to their parents to be present when it happens. A report by ANN News also interviewed some satisfied clients who used rental grandmothers to be present when breaking up with boyfriends or to help with research for reports that deal with changes in Japanese society over the years. Reaction to the news was mixed in online comments, which is understandable since it's really hard to process a grandma rental service just after hearing about it. 'I think that's a good business. Sometimes it's good to get advice from people you don't know.' 'I think the effectiveness really depends on the individual though. It seems a little hit-and-miss.' 'The ones going out to breakups should get hazard pay too.' 'I think it's important to feel needed.' 'Do they hire in the countryside? I'm over 60 and am interested.' 'I would be too worried my grandma would fall down or something.' 'All of these people-rental businesses make me uneasy.' 'These days, there are a lot of healthy people in their 60s. They can still do a lot.' 'Poor grandpas… There's no rental service for them.' The reason that this is a grandma-only service is that it's run by Client Partners, a firm that sets women with different skills up with jobs, calling themselves a 'women-only handyman company.' They also offer rental friends and family members, all of whom are women as well. For those in the market for some grandpas, a few years back we trialed the Ossan Rental service, which is more loosely defined as 'middle-aged guys' and can include guys in their 30s and 40s too. However, I just popped into their website, and they have many age-appropriate granddads who appear to be among the most popular men for rent. So, whatever your people needs are, it seems there's a rental agency out there for you. Of course, you could just go out and meet people too, but time is money, so I guess it's all relative. Source: OK Oba-achan, TV Asahi, YouTube/ANNnewsCH, Ossan Rental Top image: Pakutaso Insert image: Pakutaso ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
Kyodo News
3 hours ago
- Kyodo News
FEATURE: Japan trying AI-assisted storytellers to pass on war-time memories
TOKYO - Hiroshi Nishioka is close to tears describing the aftermath of the Nagasaki atomic bombing he experienced as a 13-year-old, as he recalls encountering injured people begging for water and reaching out for his flask. He appears wracked by guilt that he turned them away. "I pushed away their hands," the 93-year-old says. "I was worried about running out. I always question why I did that," he adds, his voice fraying. Moments later, his recollections suddenly end, and he asks for another question. But Nishioka is not speaking live. His responses, including being overcome by self-reproach, are part of a pre-recorded, artificial intelligence-assisted interactive video intended to preserve his memories for future generations. His "AI testimony" console is one of a growing number of initiatives across Japan using the burgeoning technology to pass on memories in a way that feels close to a real-life conversation with a survivor. "We wanted a way to strongly convey memories of wartime at a time when fewer people can tell those stories themselves," said Naoya Kakinaka, head of the Kanagawa prefectural government department overseeing issues relating to World War II and supporting those who experienced it. It commissioned Nishioka's project in 2022. At its peak, the prefecture neighboring Tokyo had over 130 residents with wartime experience visiting schools to offer a sense of living history. Now, they number around 30. The number of government-recognized atomic bomb survivors, meanwhile, came in below 100,000 for the first time this year, dropping to 99,130 people with an average age of 86.13 years as of the end of March. "Rather than just using video, we felt a system with interactivity would be more desirable. Especially for children, war can be hard to understand. Being able to ask questions and get a response seems effective in creating a strong impression," Kakinaka said. To create the system, Nishioka was filmed in front of a green screen over two days in October, answering about 150 questions. "As much as possible, I wanted to be able to leave my thoughts, my memories and experiences, to the next generation," the real Nishioka said of his selection for the AI project. Standing in front a large screen, listeners use a microphone to ask him questions. The unit's AI analyzes the content of the questions, selecting the most suitable clip from the extensive footage taken of Nishioka's testimony. The device made its debut at an elementary school in March. Kakinaka said the prefectural government is considering further AI consoles on wartime topics more specific to Kanagawa Prefecture, which suffered bombings in the war's closing stages. In Hiroshima, where the first atomic bomb was dropped on Aug. 6, 1945, three days before Nagasaki was hit, the city government has selected five survivors to be filmed for similar consoles -- including one in English -- with plans to show them on the 80th anniversary later this year. The initiative was inspired by the "Dimensions in Testimony" project by the USC Shoah Foundation in the United States, which preserves memories of the survivors of the Holocaust and other atrocities through interactive testimonies in museums and schools. Haruhiko Yasuda, head of communication technology firm SilvaCompass Inc., which is behind multiple consoles in Japan including Nishioka's, says the company is also trying to develop a cloud-accessible version that can be used at schools without needing to dispatch consoles. SilvaCompass previously worked on a holographic project in Nagasaki and another AI console in Yasuda's home city of Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture. There, the network for families of war dead worked with him to create an AI-assisted console featuring Tamako Noda, who is now in her 80s and lost her mother in the bombing of the city on June 18, 1945. Since 2024, the console has been exhibited at the Hamamatsu Reconstruction Memorial Center. Academics see value in bridging the gap between objective and subjective history. "Any initiative to preserve the hibakusha's stories is welcome, but there is nothing more effective than a survivor showing you the feelings around the facts," said Mioko Tokuhisa, a peace studies researcher at Musashi University's Comprehensive Research Organization. "Still, memory is not necessarily reliable, and many survivor recollections overlap with those of others they knew," she said, adding the initiatives offer a "chance to present the convergence between historical record and memory." Despite the moves, no one involved in the projects sees them as a complete replacement for hearing a survivor's testimony firsthand. The Kanagawa prefectural government stressed the projects have a long-term focus, with no plans to replace living storytellers. Nishioka, too, is not ready to hand over the reins to his AI-enhanced counterpart yet. On the Nagasaki bombing's 80th anniversary on Aug. 9, he will become the oldest person to read the pledge for peace at the city's ceremony. His eldest daughter is also considering formally taking over the role of telling her father's story through a government initiative in Nagasaki, in which relatives learn a version of a family member's atomic bomb experiences which has been authorized by their relative. It allows the story's inheritor to then tell the story in public settings, in the same way that Nishioka shares his story today. "Given the state of the world, we feel a need to speak out about the horror of nuclear weapons. If that story is to continue to be told, we want to keep it in the family," Nishioka's wife, Yoshiko, said.
Asahi Shimbun
4 hours ago
- Asahi Shimbun
First dormouse found in town in Wakayama saved from cat
A Japanese dormouse caught for protection at the home of Takashi Matsuba in Nachi-Katsuura, Wakayama Prefecture (Provided by Shusaku Minato) NACHI-KATSUURA, Wakayama Prefecture—A rodent that was rescued from a curious house cat turned out to be the first Japanese dormouse found in this town on the Kii Peninsula. The dormouse, a government-designated natural treasure, was a 12-centimeter-long male pup younger than 1 year old. Thanks to Takashi Matsuba, 60, a local care manager, the dormouse will likely reach his first birthday. On the night of April 20, Matsuba, who lives in Nachi-Katsuura's Kumasegawa district, noticed his pet cat was staring at a round furry object in the hollow where a pillar and beam intersect. Before the cat could pounce, Matsuba gently wrapped the unfamiliar animal in a transparent plastic bag for safety. A closer look revealed the mammal was not an ordinary mouse. Matsuba searched the internet for information and concluded the animal was likely a treasured Japanese dormouse. He asked the Dormouse and Wildlife Institute in Hokuto, Yamanashi Prefecture, for assistance. The dormouse had a wound on its tail. Matsuba took care of the animal by feeding it with apples and mikan while keeping in close contact with the research institution. He started thinking about when he would release the Japanese dormouse back into the wild. Shusaku Minato, representative director of the Dormouse and Wildlife Institute, also hails from Nachi-Katsuura and visits the southern part of the Kii Peninsula about once a month for his research. Minato studies the tree-to-tree and other routes wild creatures take to get around expressway tunnel construction sites in the cities of Kumano and Owase in Mie Prefecture. He has observed dormice at these locations. Minato was carrying out surveys in Kumano and the Ryujinmura district of Tanabe, Wakayama Prefecture, when he learned that Matsuba was planning to free the dormouse. On April 24, Matsuba, accompanied by Minato and prefectural and municipal officials, returned the Japanese dormouse to its natural habitat. Matsuba's discovery of the dormouse highlights the rich natural environment of Nachi-Katsuura and the surrounding Kinan region marked by primeval forests. The species' presence has been also confirmed in the nearby town of Kozagawa, Wakayama Prefecture. A few kilometers from Matsuba's home, a nest of the dormice was found downstream from the Nachi Otaki waterfall on Mount Nachisan in Nachi-Katsuura. 'My impression had always been that the Japanese dormouse is an animal variant that lives in much more northern areas,' Matsuba said. 'I would like the dormouse to grow securely in the forest of Nachi-Katsuura.'
