2010 July 04 | Tokyo Kawaii, etc.

Archive for July 4th, 2010

Kawaii dog clothes shop in Japan

Posted by: kirin on date

Jul 4th, 2010 | filed

As an owner of dog, I sometimes go check out dog goods stores to buy some treats or toys for Pi-chan. Pi-chan is a Shih-Tzu dog who is weak under hot weather but strong againt cold weather, which is why I cannot enjoy dressing her with cute little clothes. I only have 4 pieces of clothing for winter season (January and February) and that’s only for the time when she walks outside. She doesn’t even need them inside house during winter.

Dog clothing is so cute and fashionable here in Japan. But it’s also very expensive. Even if it’s handful size, it costs almost the same as our clothes…well sometimes even more than ours! (lol) Thus, what I look for is cheap kawaii one. I cannot expect hella cute and fashionable stuff but I can get so-so kawaii at OK price such as 2500yen. (There are dog clothes priced almost 10,000yen for a single tiny shirt if I look for the store around Aoyama – Daikanyama, for example. But no~ I cannot afford that much for a piece of clothes for my dog!) So where am I shopping them?

★affordable dog goods/clothes shop★
Pet Paradise (anywhere in Japan, on-line and off-line)

Whether it’s on-line or off-line, I often shop at Pet Paradise.

dog goods store Kawaii dog clothes shop in Japan

Now they have summer clothes for dog. Look they are so Japanese!

Isn’t it cute when we, dressed in Yukata, go out for Hanabi Taikai (fire work observation) or Bon Dance with dog also dressed with Yukata like this? But no no for Pi-chan. It’s better she stays at an air-conditioned room.

Look, even Japanese national team uniform for the World Cup was available for dog to wear! (This photo was taken a few weeks ago.)

BTW, what kind of dog is popular in Japan?
Chihuahua, Toy Poodle, Miniature Dachshund…definitely small dogs! Shih-Tzu is actually not so popular now. Above all I think Chihuahua is the most popular dog now in Japan. Why? I think there are several reasons.
1) Small dogs are good for small houses.
2) They are too small to require adequate walking everyday, which is convenient for Japanese people who have to work like a horse. Yes, I’m saying they don’t walk Chihuahua outside everyday.
3) Same as above, Chihuahua basically has high levels of self-reliance, they don’t care about staying alone at home. This is again convenient for Japanese company employees who have to spend long hours outside on weekdays.
4) They are weak against cold weather, which gives the owners a good reason to enjoy dressing them with cute dog fashion.
5) Their size is good to be fitted in a carry bag so the owners can take them easily out for cafe or shopping.

Considering these, I see why Shih-Tzu is not popular in Japan. It’s not that small. Even Pi-chan is smaller than other adult Shih-Tzu dogs, she weighs nearly 4kg, and I don’t feel like carrying her in a bag. She hates being alone, she always stays within 50cm from me! (lol) Staying at home alone is I guess what she hates most in the world. She barely barks but she does only when she has to stay at home alone. She needs 1 hour walking everyday… It’s not as easy as to keep Chihuahua. (But I love her so much, of course!) I’ll share more and more kawaii dog clothes in the photos below. (Some of them are from different store as mentioned above.)

If I have more free time, I want to learn how to make dog clothes by myself. Then I think I can put decoration like this by myself, which must be so much fun!

These costumes for head are so cute but I know Pi-chan doesn’t like to wear any of them.

Also so many pet foods we can choose from…

What do you think about dressing your dog with clothes like these? Is it too much of human ego when animals have natural fur which is enough to protect themselves from cold weather? Tell me what you think.