A few days ago, a couple of blocks away from work, I stumbled upon this very big koinobori, probably the largest I have seen in an individual house:
It’s the first time I see one with eight carps! As a reminder, the largest koi, the black one, usually represents the family’s father, the second one, the red one, is the mother, and all the subsequent ones are the children. So does it mean that this family has six kids? I guess so.
I wonder if they count pets as children. I count my dog as my son. 😉
Isn’t it only North Americans who have this strange habit to consider pets part of the family, give them human names and such? Do Japanese people do that too? 🙂
I didn’t give my dog a human name. Feels strange to say, “Hey Bob, sit!” I’m more of a, he’s my son but not really my son.
At least I’m not a cat lady. 😉
Good then… 🙂
Honestly, that was one of the cultural shock things (albeit a very minor one) that I never really comprehended about North America, the fact that most people give their pets human names and consider them as family members.