Japanese exotic pet laws?

8 comments

1. Idk about dangerous, but I follow a YouTube channel of pet owners with otters who live in Japan. Apparently that’s legal.

2. Capybara.

   If you’re wondering, a capybara is what you would get if you asked the question “what if guinea pigs were the size of dogs”. Their primary danger is their incisors, which also scaled up with them and thus can absolutely cut your hand or arm off if the animal wanted to. I imagine the claws on their feet could also do some serious damage.

   Brazil and Argentina both have several towns built upon once-protected wetlands that were absolutely chock full of capybara. As you can imagine, the capybara never actually left, and are now considered an invasive species. They are also territorial and there are several videos online you can find of capybara chasing down people’s dogs (and presumably killing them).

   I’m not 100% sure about legality, but I have seen a こうちゃがーでん (a Japanese pet YouTuber) video a few months ago where she goes to another YouTuber’s house and finds a capybara in there, along with a giant tub for said giant rodent to live in.

   Contrary to what the Brazilian/Argentinian experience might be, this animal has also earned a reputation in English-speaking meme culture of being the “chillest animal”. This is mostly due to people who have *tamed* capybara as pets, posting videos about them. Nagasaki Bio Park – the same folks that brought us the Guinea Pig Bridge – also has a herd of tame capybara (or at least I’ve yet to hear of anyone pissing them off enough to get attacked). So this isn’t so much an animal that is inherently dangerous like a rattlesnake or a scorpion, as much as one that *can* be dangerous if untamed or provoked. I’m not sure if this would fit the writing situation that you are thinking about.

3. I doubt it’s legal, but someone in Japan could probably source a blue ring octopus fairly easily. Doesn’t need much more than a medium sized salt water tank, since they live in tide pools. Extremely deadly, but don’t look it at all.

   Is there a literary reason it needs to be a legally owned animal?

4. How about you just write a piece of fiction and don’t give a shit about some weird little detail

5. [Cone Snails](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cone_snail)

6. check out [ちゃんねる鰐](https://youtube.com/c/WANIVSPBAO) (channeru wani, aka alligator channel), he has all kinds of exotic animals. Mainly reptiles, but he’s had Emus as well. Another popular channel is あにまるず, they have a pet penguin along with a duck, various felines and other exotic animals.

7. Jellyfish are very challenging to keep alive, so unless your character is a knowledgeable aquarist, maybe go for a scorpion or something?

8. You might like reading Himitsu no reptiles, it’s a manga about reptile pets in Japan.