Back in 2018, Odate City Office’s Tourism Department wanted to give visitors to its area a snapshot of local goings-on. It made perfect sense to strap small cameras to the backs of Akitas because the breed is an important part of the city’s history and culture (it was the birthplace of Hachiko, arguably the most famous Akita in the world).

In the video below, you’ll see a snowy Odate from the perspective of  “Ako,” “Puuko,” and “Asuka” a trio of Akitas.  Non Japanese speakers won’t understand a word, but they won’t need to:

The project was a bit historic in that it was the first collaboration with Google Maps to provide a canine-driven virtual tours, aka Google “Dog View.” “Dog View” was such a success that Google plans to roll out even more destinations, with different dogs, to reflect changing seasons.