I sleep with a purple hippo, a cow, and a dog. And now, Japan is finally making sense to me. For years this country had eluded me with its cute characters and mascots made to resemble animal-like something or others, and creative blobs with eyes and fuzzy ears representing new species of thingamajigs. But I am no longer in the dark. Because the other day I went to buy new bed linens.

The linen package informed me, "Bed linen for your amuse space." Aha! The bed is supposed to be amusing! And now that I know this, my bed gets more amusing by the day.

You see, I have been looking for the perfect pillow for a long time. In Japan the big thing now is pillows shaped like animals. Being that you have to buy a few and try them out to find the perfect one, I'm guessing I am not the only one out there with a purple hippo, a cow and a dog in her bed.