Japanese Man Becomes “Human Dog”
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 29: The human mind is unfathomable and a Japanese man has proved it. The man wanted to become a dog and he has become one spending over two million Japanese yen (about Rs 11.65 lakhs).
No, he has not been transformed into a dog, but only got a dog’s outfit spending the fortune with the man inside walking like a four-legged animal in public places with a human accompaniment as if the dog has been taken out for a walk. The “human dog” is named “Toco.”
The well-known Japanese company Zeppet, which makes costumes for TV commercials and films has created the hyper-realistic dog outfit for the man and it took them 40 days. The company specialises in creating figurines, body suits, 3-D models etc.
“Modelled after a collie dog, it reproduces the appearance of a real dog walking on four legs,” said the company’s spokesperson.
A video of the “dog” was uploaded on the YouTube channel. The video was shot more than a year ago by a German TV channel but was uploaded on the social media only recently and became a talk of the town on Saturday. But the long video even does not show the “dog” wagging its tails, a natural phenomenon with a dog. Apparently the costume designer could not make the outfit so natural but he is seen waving his front “leg” at the on-lookers who obviously knew there was a human being inside the “dog.”
The man said he always wanted to become an animal.
“I became a collie, fulfilling a dream I had since I was a little child to be an animal!” the video says. In the video, Toco is seen being taken out for a walk with a leash around the neck. The human dog sniffs other dogs in the park and rolls around on the floor just like animals do.
Last year, Toco interacted with a newspaper and talked about why he chose to become a human dog.
“I don’t want my hobbies to be known, especially by the people I work with,” said the man. “They think it’s weird that I want to be a dog. For the same reason why I can’t show my real face,” added the man.
“I rarely tell my friends because I am afraid they will think I am weird,’ he said in a separate interview. He agreed that his acquaintances were taken aback learning him to be dressed like a dog. “My friends and family seemed very surprised to learn I became an animal,” he confessed.
