Today we slept on a futon downstairs in the main room. Reiko`s mother has gone to Yamaguchi as her mother is ill again and her father is in Matsuyama working for a month. Therefore we were left on our own with Marrosan and the five o`clock walk. Last night he got free again. We tried several times to tie him back up again but he is Houdini reincarnated. He pulls against the leash and drops his head and manages amazingly to slip the collar off using his paws. Of course, he is cunning. He only does this when he thinks you aren`t looking at him. We hid up the stairs and watched him do this. We gave up in the end and closed all the doors and let him be free for one night in the hall. Naturally this morning we were awoken by his whining and attempting to open the doors and were greeted by a carrier bag he had urinated on. At five in the morning.

We got his collar on and an extra one we had bought and walked him and tied him up. It was fine until midday when we left for Namba. When we came back from Namba, we were greeted by Marrosan running up the street to meet us and the garden full of ripped rubbish bags. Reiko and her sister have gone to buy a new heavy duty collar just now. Ｉ ａｍ still ill and just want an easy life.

Anyway we went to Namba for the Midosuji Parade (see link below) It was a lot of fun and when I get the pictures developed, I`ll put some up here but for the mean time, check the link. The temperature shot up to 28 degrees today. Highlights included Japanese Olympic medal winners, Miss France and the first foreign Sumo Yokozuna. Yes.