Is it common to have pets in Japan? What is it like to have a pet (I’m thinking about dogs but will gladly hear about other pets too) in Japan?
When I’ve visited Japan, I barely saw any dogs being walked, at least not compared to the amount of people there is. In Finland I see people with dogs many times every time I’m outside, but in Japan I saw the same amount of dogs in two weeks than I see at home on my morning commute.
I was thinking, is this because of smaller apartments and denser cities, which mean less appropriate space to walk your dog. Some places had signs saying, dogs must be kept in strollers. Yet dogs and other animals seem to freguently appear on different Japanese learning platforms, which gives you the idea that they are common.
What about other pets? There seemed to be a lot of cats wandering the streets in Japan. Is it more common to have small indoor pets, like fish, a hamster or a cat? Is it common to let your cat out on it’s own?