Japan’s pet industry is booming as ‘fur babies’ outnumber babies | Business and Financial Issues

Tokyo, Japan – While walking in a park near his home in Ikeda, Gifu Prefecture, Shin Ohta had an idea.

“My dog ​​often stops walking when we walk. I used to carry him all the time, but his weight of about 5kg (11lbs) started to become a burden,” Ohta told Al Jazeera.

Recommended Articles

list of 4 itemsend of series

“I knew there had to be a better way.

Ohta works for Japan’s oldest baby carrier manufacturer, Lucky Industries, which has produced more than 40 million baby carriers since it was founded in 1934.

He has spent his career making baby carriers, but after traveling there, he wondered if the same technology could be used for pets.

After consulting with a doctor to ensure the design was feasible for dogs, Ohta helped Lucky Industries launch its first line of dog hip replacements in 2022: Nu-i.

Earlier this year, the company joined dozens of other brands at the annual Interpets conference in Tokyo, a showcase for Japan’s fast-growing pet care market.

On the first weekend of April, vendors lined the walls of the Big Sight convention center, selling everything from pet dryers to the latest cat treats.

A few of the pet owners who attended the event had their four-legged friend on a leash, instead walking them around in decorated strollers, or dog-like slings.

Most of the animals were decorated with cute clothes, fur pads, and diapers.

Pets in Japan now outnumber children under the age of 15 by more than 2 million.

According to market intelligence firm Euromonitor, the country’s pet care market was worth 880 billion yen ($5.4bn) in 2025, up from 689.6 billion yen ($4.2bn) in 2020.

As the number of children in Japan decreases and the number of children decreases, companies that once built their businesses on babies, selling toys, slings, and strollers, are focusing on their pets.

Betting on pets at the Interpets conference, Unicharm’s booth was full of dog and cat accessories from its latest “Mannerware” line.

The Tokyo-based company has become one of the best in the pet care market.

After making its name selling feminine hygiene products and disposable diapers, Unicharm expanded into pet diapers in 2001.

Since then, pet care products have been one of the engines of the industry’s growth.

Although the human care market is large, the pet care sector is very profitable.

According to Unicharm’s financial results for 2025, the company’s pet care division had a profit margin of 15.4 percent that year, compared to the personal care division’s 10.7 percent.

Isshu Uehara, a Unicharm spokesman, said that by 2025, the pet care business would account for 17 percent of the company’s total sales, with plans to increase that share to 20 percent by 2030.

“Japan’s birth rate is declining,” Uehara told Al Jazeera.

“Changes in life, such as being single, marrying late, and the growth of families without children, earning two incomes, have caused many people to start looking for emotional connection through animals.

“As a result, we are seeing the growth of ‘pet care’, or treating pets as family members or children rather than just animals.

“Customers want to buy valuable products to enhance their pets’ lives, and share experiences with them, such as eating together or going to restaurants and friends’ homes,” added Uehara.

Unicharm is not alone.

Across Japan, strollers like AirBuggy and clothing companies like Sweet Mommy have done the same, applying expertise built around babies to the growing market of pet owners.

Lucky Industries CEO Hiroyuki Higuchi showed the company’s background to explain the evolution of pets.

“When the company started, Japanese families had many children, and women needed carriers to work at home,” Higuchi told Al Jazeera.

But now, Japanese families are shrinking. While there has been an increase in single-person households and two-person households without children, single-child households have become more common.

An international study on reproductive systems found that between 2002 and 2021, the number of families with one child increased from 10 percent to nearly 20 percent.

“With fewer babies, it has been difficult to find new ideas for pediatric medicine,” Ohta said.

“Now, my life is based on my dogs, as are the lives of many of my friends. When we meet, we talk about our pets.”

“Compared to the baby product market, the pet sector is doing well,” Higuchi said.

“Companies see it as a trusted part… In Japan, dogs are seen as babies, as part of the family. Just as many Japanese people carry their children in slings or carriers, so do dog owners,” Higuchi added.

Barbara Holthus, an anthropologist and director of the German Institute of Japan Studies, said that the killing of livestock has been on the rise in recent years.

“In the past, a dog or a cat could be an extra family member, but with fewer other relatives and fewer children in the house, the focus is more on the animal,” Holthus told Al Jazeera.

Holthus added: “But it’s much different than just changing babies.” Animals play different roles. “A pet can also take the place of a spouse.” After marriage, sometimes people get pets.

When a person dies, they get a pet. Sometimes, a pet is seen as a child’s only toy. “

Holthus sees Japan as an excellent example of family reform, including the emergence of the “multigenerational family”.

Holthus said the declining birth rate, as well as factors such as loneliness and urbanization, help explain why pet culture has become particularly popular in Japan.

As for why babies are turning to pets, Holthus offered a simple explanation.

He said: “It makes sense.

“Of course, companies want to make money, and because of demographic changes, their market is being lost.”