Japan’s first pets
They never got the attention that Obama’s new dog is receiving, but there have been “first pets” in Japan:
In Japan, the office of the prime minister said that former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto brought a hamster with him when he entered the prime minister’s official residence in January 1996. However, when former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe moved into the residence in November 2006, he left his pet dog, a miniature dachshund named Roy, behind at his private residence.
“There are no regulations banning pets at the official residence, but we are not aware of any cases of cats or dogs being kept there,” an office representative said.
Prime Minister Taro Aso’s grandfather Shigeru Yoshida, who signed the Treaty of San Francisco, kept many pets at his private residence, including three dogs called San, Fran and Cisco.
A representative of Aso’s office said that the prime minister likes dogs, just like his grandfather, but he has reportedly not kept one since his miniature dachshund died several years ago. In February, when Aso was suffering from a slump in support, he welcomed service dogs (pictured above) into his office, and commented sadly that he was liked by dogs.
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