If you love big fluffy doggos as much as me, traversing the Akita-filled streets of the breed’s birthplace, Odate in Japan is a dream. Well lucky you, Google has made that dream a reality. With Google Street View, affectionately called Google Dog View, you can now be led on a tour around the city’s sites by two local Akitas.
Ako and Asuka, both local, knowledgeable dogs, had cameras strapped to their harnesses and were led on very-defined snowy walkies. What you get is a 360-degrees tour of the city from a dog’s eye view. And yes, that does mean that if you rotate the camera around, your screen will be filled with cute, fluffy fur-faces. Fittingly, you’ll be taken round to see the bronze statue of Hachiko, the dog that loyally waited for his owner.
Every day Hachiko would wait for his owner to come home from work at the Shibuya Station, after making the commute with the pair every morning and every evening. However, his owner suddenly died and never returned home to the station. For the next nine years, nine months and fifteen days, Hachiko would continue to wait for his owner at the platform. Of course, your canine tour guides won’t be able to tell you all this, but you’ll be able to see the famous statue for yourself.
As well as the Hachiko statue, you’ll see the Roken (old Dog) Shrine, the open-air hot spring foot bath, and of course the Akita Dog Museum, all as you travel along glorious, beautiful snow-mountain paths.
While this collaboration between Odate and Google has been planned, if the internet falls in love with it as much as I have, maybe we’ll get to see other tours with dogs taking the lead. Dachshund next, please.
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