Google has created the cutest dog lover feature ever – you can view parts of a city from the perspective of two dogs who have cameras mounted on them. Yes, there’s a google street view from the perspective of a dog – the “Dog View”.
As stated on Google Japan, Odate city wanted to allow visitors to have a unique perspective into their city. Since Akita dogs are an important part of the city’s history and culture, they enlisted the help of two gorgeous Akita dogs – Ako and Asuka – to help give a virtual tour of the local area. The dogs are from Akita prefecture in the snowy north of Japan, and you can catch a glimpse of the way it looks from the two dogs’ view. Cameras have been mounted on the beautiful Akitas.
Odate is regarded as the birthplace of the mountain-dwelling dogs and lies partly within the borders of the Towada-Hachimantai National Park.
A little more about the Akita Dog:
The Akita (秋田犬 Akita-inu, Akita-ken) is a large dog that originated from the mountainous northern regions of Japan. It has a short double-coat that comes in a narrow pallette of colors (although an American strain comes in all dog colors. The American and Canadian strains are considered as separate breeds from the Japanese lines.)
The Akita is an extremely beautiful, loyal, fluffy, independent and dominant breed. They symbolize well-being and health in Japan and first came to the United States with Hellen Keller in 1937. The Akita is usually aloof with strangers but affectionate with family members. Generally hardy dogs, they were originally used for guarding royalty and nobility in feudal Japan (they can be found as police and guard dogs in Japan today). They also tracked and hunted wild boar, black bear, and sometimes deer. Akita dogs are fearless and devoted guardians. Today, they are enlisted as therapy dogs as well. The breed is designated as a national natural monument.
If you’ve never seen the movie “Hachiko”, you’re missing out! The statue of Hachi the Dog sits near Shibuya’s famous scramble crossing. Hachi was an Akita Inu! He was born Nov 10th, 1923. Hachikō’s owner, professor Hidesaburō Ueno, would commute daily to work, and Hachikō would leave the house to greet him at the end of each day at the nearby Shibuya Station. The pair continued the daily routine until May 1925, when Ueno suddenly had a cerebral hemorrhage while giving a lecture and died without returning to the train station where Hachiko would wait.
After Ueno passed away, the loyal dog arrived at the precise time the train was due at the station and waited there each day for his return – he did this for the next nine years. The loyal dog was buried beside his beloved owner’s grave in Tokyo. He died on March 8 1935. Hachikō is known in Japanese as chūken Hachikō (忠犬ハチ公) “faithful dog Hachikō”, hachi meaning “eight” and kō meaning “affection.” During his lifetime, he was held up in Japanese culture as a shining example of loyalty. Even today, he continues to be remembered in worldwide popular culture, with statues, movies, books, and appearances in various media.
