Half of all the homes in Japan have a pet. The Japanese pet industry generates sales of over 1 trillion yen per year, and it just keeps growing. The most popular pets of all are dogs, which have long been a part of life in Japan as hunting companions... (more) and guard dogs. Today dogs are often seen as full-fledged members of the family. Some pet dogs in Japan work for the police, and in search and rescue operations. On this edition of BEGIN Japanology, we'll look at the status of pets in Japan.

Peter Barakan, Stuart Varnam-Atkin