Urban Japan's “Fuzzy” New Families: Affect and Embodiment in Dog–Human Relationships.

This paper argues that Japan and notions of Japaneseness are becoming “postfamilial” in breaking from earlier models and roles, and that one aspect of Japan's post-familial shift can be observed in the sharp rise in the number of “fuzzy” household members, specifically dogs, cats, and rabbits over the past three decades. In Japan, pets now outnumber children under the age of 15. The number one consumer of companion animals is also the fastest growing demographic in Japan: adults whose adult children have left home. Dogs are the focus of this paper. Dogs are more publicly prominent than cats or rabbits and they are an increasing presence in homes, parks, and cafés in urban Japan. Moreover, the representation of human–canine relations has become prominent in popular media; for example “the Softbank dog,”Kaikun, has become a television advertising celebrity. Furry familiar others are projected to be an ever-increasing presence in urban Japan. Thus, “fuzzy” also denotes the boundary blurring familial roles that some dogs encroach upon. This paper discusses how touch, affect, and embodiment entangle in dealing with urban Japan's exploding population of companion canines; a space where dogs are coming to be viewed as stand-in or surrogate fathers, friends, and even lovers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]