Japanese man spends $15,000 to become a dog

After multiple trial rounds and forty days later, the company was able to carry out this task

By Katarina Hall

May 26, 2022 1:18pm

Updated: May 26, 2022 2:52pm

With $15,000, a Japanese man was finally able to fulfill his life-long dream: becoming a dog.

Toko-san commissioned an agency called Zeppet, which makes costumes and figures for TV commercials and films, to make him a realistic Border Collie costume. After multiple trial rounds and forty days later, the company was able to carry out this task.

“Modelled after a collie dog, it reproduces the appearance of a real dog walking on four legs,” a spokesperson for Zeppet said.

Once his dog outfit was complete, Toko-san took pictures and videos of him to show off his new cosplay. Videos on Youtube and Twitter show Toko-san rolling around in his very real-looking costume, waving his paws and legs in the air, and doing other typical dog behaviors. The video has reached more than 600,000 Youtube views since it was posted in April.

“I made it a Collie because it looks real when I put it on,” Toko-san told the Japanese outlet Mynavi.

“My favorite is quadrupedal animals, especially cute ones. Among them, I thought that a big animal close to me would be good, considering that it would be a realistic model, so I decided to make it a dog,” he continued.

“I met such a condition and made collie, my favorite breed of dog,” he added.

Dream of becoming a dog granted by ultra lifelike collie suit in Japanhttps://t.co/gXgfAtlLgs #collies #suit #realistic #ZeppetWorkshop pic.twitter.com/kct6xh28PI
— grape Japan (@grapejapan) April 29, 2022

For Zeppet, however, this was no easy task. They had to figure out how a dog’s figure could be adapted to the human body for it to look realistic.

“The point is that the skeleton of a dog can be reproduced on the skeleton of a human. Since the structure of the skeleton is very different, we spent a lot of time studying how to make it look like a dog,” a company employee said.

“In addition, we collect photographs taken from various angles so that the beautiful coat of the collie can be reproduced and devised so that the coat will flow naturally.”