The T-Files


Sun, 02 Apr 2006

Tokyo Pet Show

The Tokyo Pet Show covered three halls of the enormous Makuhari Messe convention complex, and was almost completely a dog show. A wide variety of vendors displayed the offerings of pet food, canine apparel (including shoes, accessories and even wigs), animal-friendly interiors, bath tubs and washing machines, medical procedures (such as DNA extraction and storage), breeding consulting, remote monitoring (with a live video feed to your mobile phone that can also be used to talk to the pet and release food rations), and cleaning utensils. A large chunk of floor space was taken up by Honda, who displayed their ideas how to make car rides comfortable for dogs. Unfortunately, they managed to do so without the help of any campaign girls, as seen on motor shows and video game fairs. Other attractions included a petting zoo with cats, dogs, rabbits, and marmots, an exhibition of animal-inspired art, robotic pets (not Aibo, who has been discontinued, but Paro, the therapeutic robot seal, whom I already met at the 2003 Robot Exhibition), and doga (dog yoga).