Trends in Japan - CScout Japan Blog » Pet Trends: Water purification and graphic stamps

Pet Trends: Water purification and graphic stamps

Written by: Rebecca Milner on September 2, 2008 at 11:01 pm | In DIGITAL LIFE, LIFESTYLE / FASHION |

It’s been awhile since we checked in on specialty products for pets, so here’s an update. While we aren’t seeing the same bombardment of items as we had in the recent past, a couple of interesting ones did catch our eye.

Kizna Co. has created a water purifying system especially for pets, called Peture (pet + nature). The high-grade system removes all chlorine and toxins from the water while maintaining traces of key minerals to create purportedly healthier, more balanced water for animals.

In addition to the drinking function, the Peture also has a shower attachment so pets can be clean and pure inside and out.

It only makes sense that the growing number of consumers demanding higher degrees of “pureness” and “wellness” from their food products and home appliances would apply these priorities to the products they buy for their pets. This level of purification doesn’t come cheap, however, including a two-year warranty the Peture comes to ¥155,400 (about $1,500).

Now on the gimmicky side (remember beer for dogs?), an Osaka-based hanko maker is offering a service to include an illustration of your pet onto your name stamp. Hanko are the personal stamps registered by individuals to serve as their signature and are used on official documents.

Interested customers are asked to send a photo of their pet, the image of which is simplified into a small illustration that accompanies their name. The process, which takes about two weeks, starts at ¥4,980 for a standard hanko and ¥3,900 for a smaller, self-inking type. A small price to pay for the ability to merge your identity with the likeness of your beloved companion.

Actually its not just for pets, you can have a person too. Some of the other designs, which aren’t created to resemble anyone in particular, are kind of neat.

In addition to demonstrating a little bit of personality, elaborate hanko are used to prevent fraud, though we’re not sure if the pet ones will pass at the bank.