Extra! Update on Nippon Kan’s Dove, Hatako

My name is Genbei and I am senior uchideshi at Nippon Kan. Last August, a white dove flew into the Nippon Kan gardens and made herself at home. She spent the winter with me nice and warm in the dojo office, and this spring, she and Ringo (another visiting dove) hatched two eggs in the nest they built there. The new baby doves were named Chako and Shiroko (brown and white). Both parents took good care of the baby doves until they were strong and able to fly. Every day Homma Kancho would take all of the doves to the garden in their cage and Hatako and Ringo would fly to get a little exercise. When the babies were big enough to eat on their own however, Ringo flew the coop! Hatako continued caring for the babies as a single mother, and did a very good job. As the babies grew, it became apparent that there was not enough room for all of them in their quarters as the young birds started picking on Hatako a bit.