After teaching a digital photography workshop with 23 participants, and after a delightful dinner at a restaurant on Sotobori Moat, the outermost of the Imperial Palace defences, I met a cat.

Cha-chan was sitting on a makeshift plywood and crate shelf outside an old house. I couldn't help petting her. Fat and friendly, I held out my hand and she tested me out with a gentle bite. I passed muster by not flinching and was allowed to pet her.

Her owner, an older woman who never gave her name, came out to talk to us. "Cha-chan runs away from scary strangers and dogs," she said. I guess since Cha-chan didn't run away from us, we weren't scary. I'm pretty sure I'm not a dog (no comments from the peanut gallery, please).

Obaasan chatted with us for ten minutes before we said goodnight and left. I think this was the nicest, longest conversation I've ever had with a stranger here. This old woman was lonely and not too concerned that we were foreign or didn't always understand what she was saying. Cha-chan liked us and that was good enough for her.