TOKYO — Kenneth Kato is due any moment and the buzz is palpable. Ken, as he is affectionately known, has just gotten his first designer cut, and everyone can’t wait to see it. When he finally prances up to the small plaza in a Takanawa apartment complex to meet his friends for a playdate, oohs and aahs fill the air. His shiny black locks have been trimmed in a perfect line and delicate tufts of hair shoot from his feet like blond booties. Ken is the coolest cocker spaniel on the block.

Earlier that day, Ken went to F by Design f + C, a grooming facility in Naka-Meguro. At first glance, it could easily be mistaken for a chic salon. The clean white walls are accented with dark wood and plants. Classical music plays softly in the background while peppermint, known for its calming effect, wafts through the air. There, F by Design groomer Ryo Oshima — whose own cocker spaniel, Beckham, has a mohawk — had slaved over Ken with a shaver, scissors and comb, meticulously cutting for hours.

Ken’s hip haircut — which included a special canine massage among other things — did not come cheaply. His owner, Yuri Kato, spent 12,000 yen for the service and could have opted for a clay pack and “minus ion” steam bath or Chinese herb hot tub and massage for another 3,000 yen. It’s more than the 9,000 yen she regularly spends on her own hair, but she doesn’t mind. “Before I had Ken, I would have thought that 12,000 yen was too much to spend for dog grooming, but now I would spend 50,000 yen,” she says.

Even Yuri’s husband, Minoru, indulges the dog. “Before we got Ken, my husband used to say, ‘a dog is a dog.’ He had a dog growing up, but it stayed in the garden. Now he spends a lot of time at Kojima (pet store) picking out the best shampoo.” Ken is more than a pet. He is like their child, she says.

Dogs are the new children of Japan

Indeed, statistics show that dogs are the new children in Japan. According to a Nihon Keizai Shimbun article published in January, dogs currently outnumber children under the age of 12. There are now some 12.5 million dogs, twice as many as there were in the 1980s, with the highest ownership among 30- and 40-year-olds. The rise in dog ownership, the paper reports, has brought with it an explosion of dog-related businesses and a market worth an estimated 1.5 trillion yen per year.

For canines, who until recently were chained up in the yard and used mainly for protection, 2006 is literally and figuratively the Year of the Dog, and the streets of Tokyo are teeming with pampered pooches. Some might be wearing 10,000 yen collars spelling out their names in Swarovski crystal purchased at Dog’s Care Joker in Roppongi Hills, or taking in the scenery from the comfort of a name-brand stroller. Some dogs now carry meishi.

When their owners travel, lucky pups stay in a 20,000 yen per night six-mat suite at Pet Inn Royal, the luxury pet hotel that opened last year at Narita Airport, or the NaYa Court Dog Resort in the countryside two hours north of Tokyo. They can be seen sitting at the table of a canine café nibbling away at an organic doggy pizza or licking a Cookies & Cream doggy “ice cream” at Three Dog Bakery, which sells homemade dog biscuits, cookies and personalized birthday cakes for around 3,000 yen. They might even have their own wedding, complete with a custom-made doggy wedding dress, veil, pearls (20,000-100,000 yen for a six-piece set), tuxedo (20,000 to 30,000 yen) and wedding cake (5,000 yen) from www.nahomilly.com, an online pet store that sells custom-made clothes.

In a city with its fair share of blue-haired grandmas, it is hardly surprising that poodles with pink ears are also roaming about — although the canine cognoscenti might have natural highlights or a mohawk dyed “samurai blue” in honor of the World Cup. Or, they might flaunt their designer wardrobe like Kagura and Mikoto, two female miniature schnauzers who love to show off their leather pants, crown and cross necklaces, Swarovski crystal skull tank top and 10,000 yen short-sleeved hoodies. “It’s funny,” says the pair’s owner Keisuke Okadome, a 32-year-old systems engineer. “At home they don’t want to be clothed, but when we go out, they don’t mind at all.” On average he and his wife spend 20,000 yen per dog a month. “They’re just part of the family,” he says.

Easier to have a pet than ever before

Kazuhiko Ohno is the Secretary General of Companion Animal Information and Research Center, or CAIRC, an organization devoted to improving relations between pets and society in Japan. He attributes the increase in dog/pet ownership to factors such as an increase in the aging population, declining birthrate, rise in the average age women marry, and the now widely held belief that dogs/pets reduce stress and provide emotional support. Most importantly, perhaps, is that it is easier to have a pet than ever before. In 1997, only one percent of newly built condominiums allowed pets. In 2004, the number had increased to 60 percent, he says.

“Ownership of purebred dogs is a form of conspicuous consumption — expensive, indicative of a certain sophistication and leisure in one’s lifestyle (including having the space in Tokyo to keep a dog) — but much cheaper than a fancy car and friendlier,” says Ted Bestor, a professor of anthropology at Harvard University and an expert on modern Japanese society. But, he says, the dog boom might also be an indication that people want friends and undemanding affection. Dogs are, after all, man’s quintessential best friends. “Dogs are more reliable than kids in that respect,” he says. “And if people really are socially alienated, maybe having a dog is easier than having a kid.”

Dr Yukako Ide, a veterinarian, agrees. She sees dogs’ elevated status as a reflection of the new, relaxed lifestyle in Japan. “Rather than work hard to have more income, Japanese prefer to have a good quality of life,” she says. “But what is particular to Japanese culture is that dogs can be a fashion item that attracts attention.”

“Forget about the boom,” says Ken Watanabe, CEO of Mr. Pet, the largest manufacturer of pet accessories in Japan. “There hasn’t been a pet culture in this country.” Some owners, he says, treat their dog like an accessory or a toy or even like a human. “The personification of dogs exists in the U.S. and Europe to some extent, but nothing like Japan,” he says.

In fact, dogs in Tokyo have names like Paul, Phil and Cliff, or Alice and Tina. Recently, Janet and Michael, two toy poodles, joined their owners for cappuccino at Snobbish Babies, a swank new dog restaurant in Aobadai where canine clothing has reached new heights.

Yorimichi Ishii is the editor of Dog Fan, a magazine that features everything from doggy fashion to hairstyles and everything in between. He says clothing was originally designed to protect certain breeds from heat exhaustion in the summer or cold in the winter. “Now clothes have become more trendy and colorful,” he says. “They are not necessarily focused on practicality.”

Yoko Ito, who owns more than 120 pet goods stores across Japan and one in New York, began producing dog fashion in 2000. Her clothing has been featured in French Glamour, Marie Claire and Swedish Elle. She is in the midst of launching a store in Russia and has plans to extend to Canada. In 2005, the company posted a profit of 7.6 billion yen. The doggy kimono (6,800-9,800 yen) has become her signature product, but rabbit and lion outfits, soccer/baseball referee outfits, sports-related items and dresses also move well. Profits for dog fashion are up 125 percent, she says. But the hottest items at Hannari, the company’s high-end store in Omotesando Hills, are jewelry and a custom-made collar that spells out the dog’s name in rhinestones. They’ve sold as many as 200 in a month.

Fashion is one way owners can interact with their pets. “Now we see pet photo studios, pet models, dog cafes, dog beauty salons, and dog nursery schools. We see owners and their pets enjoying more activities together. Nowadays, real estate agents, furniture companies, travel agencies, restaurants, etc. cater to pets,” Ito says.

Hair stylists Takahiro Miura and his business partner Ryo Kikuchi opened Galleria Artesta in Daikanyama a year and a half ago. It’s the only place in Tokyo where owners and their dogs can go to have their hair done together. Profits are up tenfold: their client list has 600 names, 25% of which are humans. “People are treating their dogs like children, and they want places they can take them,” says Miura.

Galleria Artesta specializes in natural highlights, color and extensions for dogs —two to three customers per week request such services — but 20-30% of the company profits come from the apparel they design under the Egomania label. The necklaces, hoodies, crystal skull tank top and leather pants Schnauzers Kagura and Mikoto wear are their creations. They also sell jeans with suspenders and even a leather jacket for 30,000 yen — they’ve sold 10 of them.

Some spend 500,000 yen a year on their pets

Miura reckons some of his clients, who care more about quality than price, spend upwards of 500,000 yen a year on their pets. “It’s not about the dogs; it’s about making people happy,” he says. “Owners want to do this for their dogs.”

Not everyone in Japan thinks such things as highlights, coloring and extensions are good for dogs. F by Design f + C won’t do them because they irritate dogs and their skin.

“The explosion of dog cafes, shops, and salons is just a passing fad,” says NaYa Court Dog Resort owner Hideyuki Ikeda, Japan’s “dog whisperer” and dog trainer to the stars, who regularly appears on television here and in Taiwan, China and Korea. An unregulated industry has allowed amateurs to easily open businesses, he says.

“The dark side is the change in attitude toward dogs may cause over-personification and doting,” says Hiroshi Nakagawa, owner of Canine Unlimited, a two-year-old training school for puppies and dogs in Himonya that uses positive reinforcement. “‘Dog cafes’ and ‘dog parks’ are OK, but the problems are caused by owners who are ignorant about dog behavior and do not understand the importance of educating their dogs.”

Many clearly do. Watanabe of Mr. Pet says in the last five years, demand for training products has tripled. From 2004 to 2005, the number of pet schools in Tokyo was up by 27%, according to a recent census conducted by Yaseisha, a pet industry market research firm.

The pet boom in Japan has brought with it other benefits for animals, as well. Starting June 1, the Ministry of the Environment began enforcing the Revised Humane Treatment of Animals Act in response. Among other things, dealers and pet shops will be subject to surprise inspections and could lose their license to sell animals if they don’t meet government standards.

Dr Ide says overall the change in attitude is positive. Veterinarians are diagnosing illnesses and catching problems earlier because owners and the professionals that provide services like grooming have more physical contact with dogs than they used to, she says.

And even doggy treats are getting healthier. Rio Yokoyama and his wife opened the first Three Dog Bakery franchise in Daikanyama in 2001 after a scouting trip to the U.S. Now they own four in Tokyo and are looking to expand. But pet health is their number one priority, even if it comes in the form of a cake with the birthday dog’s name spelled out in carob (chocolate is poisonous for dogs). “We always make food with safety in mind,” says president Yoshiyuki Ikedo.

A 2005 survey by the Pet Food Manufacturers Association reported that 65% of dog owners “check the condition of the dog’s stool/urine,” and 57.7% “give age-appropriate meals.” “This data shows that the owners are paying attention to their pet’s health,” says Ohno of CAIRC. In addition, he says that over the last two years, facilities and services that heal or minimize dogs’ stress, such as spas, aromatic massages for pets and dog runs, have increased.

No. of pet-sitting companies up by 48.9%

And dogs no longer have to spend their days alone, waiting for their owners to come home from work, which can cause behavior problems. The number of pet-sitting companies in Tokyo grew by 48.9% from 2004 to 2005, according to Yaseisha’s census.

Dogs Day Care Japan in Nishi-Azabu offers 24-hour daycare with three-month passes starting at 315,000 yen plus a 21,000 yen initial registration fee according to their website. Yearly passes go for 882,000 yen. Their clients get regular meals, walks and playtime instead of spending the day in a crate or wreaking havoc in the house. For one Chihuahua owner with an irregular work schedule who posted her story on Dogs Day Care’s website, it is a priceless service. “I felt like I hit the jackpot! Chink’s behavioral problems were resolved,” she writes.

“It’s really about thinking of dogs as people and thinking about their needs,” says Dog Fan editor Ishii of certain seemingly extravagant services.

Or, it seems, dogs thinking of themselves as people. Lamb, a fluffy white and somewhat spoiled poodle, prefers the company of her owners Yasuko and Akihisa Harada, 40-something business executives. When given the opportunity to play with her fellow canines in the park, she will instead leap into her owners’ arms. “She doesn’t know she is a dog,” says Akihisa Harada. “She thinks she is human.”

Source: Japan Today