This afternoon I came across this great blog on living in Japan talking about the change in attitudes toward pets in Japan over the last few years:

All of that has now changed. The pet business is booming in Japan. Pets seem to be treated as well as children, and pampered, little, “cute” animals can be seen everywhere. Girls bring them in their purses on trains, older people are out walking them, and a large share of the population seems to own at least one–despite the limited space.
On a recent holiday, I had to wait an hour and a half for my bus (which usually arrives every 20 minutes when it isn’t a holiday) at the Ebisu Station so I killed a little time at the nearby shopping center. A dog show was taking place so I captured a few images of the pet craze. Not only were there dogs on stage, but there were hundreds in the audience as well.

Head on over to TravelJapanBlog.com to check out some more great photos of pets at the dog show in the Japan train station!

Dogs in Japan competing for "Dog Idol!"