ペットから学んだ異文化
Learning About Other Cultures from Pets
マースジャパン リミテッド 副社長・石山 恒

Hisashi ISHIYAMA, Vice President,
Mars Japan Limited

Hello everybody. For the next 30 minutes, I would like

continuously expanding up to now, and we consider

to talk about pets from a somewhat different point of

it to be a trend that will continue for the foreseeable

view to that of today’s other speakers.

future. For example, in the United States, about 170
million pet dogs and cats are now being kept, and thisI have been working in the pet food industry for thenumber is continuing to increase.

past 30 years. The company I currently work for sells
a huge amount of pet food all over the world. Over the

On this map, the locations marked in red represent

course of these 30 years I have attended numerous

the places I have visited on business trips, and those

conferences around the world and I paid repeatedmarked in blue represent the places I have lived duringvisits to approximately 30 countries to attend productthe course of my work. The reason why I have beendevelopment meetings. In the course of my travels I

running around the world so much is that the pet foodhave met a great number of people and had countless

industry has become enormous. The industry started

opportunities to see how people relate to their pets inover a century ago in the United States and over 80

different ways and in different places.

years ago in Europe. In Japan, it began to develop about
40 years ago.

These days, in many countries that were not previously
among the pet food industry’s target markets, as

As in any business, when a company tries to develop

average incomes have risen and more people havea new market, the usual method is to introduce

begun to keep pets, a growing number of animals areproducts that have already been successful in existing

being kept as pets. So the size of the pet food market

large markets. I think major representative Japaneseis expanding. Countries such as Russia and China havecompanies such as Sony and Toyota operate in this way.

not yet grown into such large pet food markets, butThis is an easy method when dealing with functionalas their national income levels rise, they will become

products. But in the case of some products, such as pethuge markets. Anticipating the future value of such

foods, which combine functional and cultural attributes,

markets, my company is now selling pet food in overa number of things can occur that impede cultural

100 countries and producing pet food at 62 factories

transfer.

dotted around the globe. Each year worldwide - mainlyin America, Asia and Europe - we sell a total of about

In the figure shown here, the items along the axis on

ten times the volume of pet food that the Japanese pet

the right are products sold according to their function

food industry sells

without much consideration to cultural differences.
Examples of such products include cars, watches andOverall, in retail price terms, the world pet food market

cameras. In the case of cars, there are some slight

is worth approximately 7 trillion yen. According todifferences and functionally modifications for use inresearch conducted by my company, the total number

countries with left-hand or right-hand drive trafficof dogs or cats kept by people is estimated at aboutsystems and to meet the requirements of various other

700 million worldwide. These numbers have been

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national laws. And where consumer tastes differ fromtraditionally been given to pets in a given country andcountry to country, product design may be varied to

the way pets have lived there have a major influence onreflect these differences. But even so, the structural

pet food design.

parts of cars do not change very much.
In this next figure, the bottom axis is a chronologicalHowever, pet food is a product that belongs squarely

record, showing how long it takes for pet food toon the left side of the figure. The bottom of the left

provide the necessary calories to maintain a dog or cat’side is set at zero and the top at 100, so you can sees life. The United States is at the top. Pet food was putthat culture exerts a considerable influence over pet

on sale first in the US and then introduced into the UK,

food. For instance, many Japanese people tend to keep

and the last of the second group of countries where it

small dogs. From a global perspective, both the overall

was introduced were Germany and France. This figure

numbers and the ratio of very small dogs kept in Japanshows that pet food consumption spread rapidly once

are high. The kind of food that dogs prefer to eat does

the products and communication methods improved.

not differ very much from country to country, but
this isn’t the case with cats. For example, in Germany

The horizontal axis bar shows how long it took toapproximately 80% of cats prefer to eat meat, but inreach the same level of calorie adequacy in different

Japan the corresponding ratio is less than 5%. There

countries. The figure shows that the newer the market,

is a tendency for people to choose food for their pets

the faster pet food popularization occurred in line withbased on what has been given to similar animals in

improved products and communication methods. For

their country traditionally, and also based on theexample, communication with consumers was originallycommon idea that food nutritious enough for people

conducted via magazines and the radio. In the 1950s,

must be sufficiently nutritious for pets too. Likewise,

the first television advertisements were aired. This led

each country’s culinary culture is reflected in the design

to a dramatic leap forward in the effectiveness of petof its pet food.

food advertising.

In Western-style meals, meat is considered to be theIn order to transfer successful cases into new markets,

central item, but in Japanese-style meals, vegetables

we generally translate the stories of how the pet

and fish generally play this role. So although the wild

food became popular with consumers in successful

ancestors of dogs and cats would not have eaten

countries. The stories are used in the new countries. In

vegetables at all, in Japanese pet food, both dog foodthis translation process, what methods of persuasion

and cat food contains vegetables. However, cats would

do we have to include? We try to differentiate thenever eat vegetables on their own initiative, and if the

product itself from the alternatives, explain the benefits

carbohydrate content of the food was too high, they

it offers and why the product provides these benefits. I

would not be able to digest it. In ways such as this, apersonally had a lot of difficulty carrying out this task

country’s culinary culture has a large influence on thein the Japanese language.

design of its pet food.
This was because the Japanese language doesn’t have

264

When I put vegetables into pet food for the first timea wide range of comparative adjectives or verbs. In

in 1987, the president of our US headquarters, who

English, it is easy to say “good”, “better”, and “best”, or

was on a visit to Japan, asked me, “When was the last“strong”, “stronger” and “strongest”. But in Japanese,time you saw a dog walking into the garden to eat the

we can only really say “better” and “stronger”. So in

vegetables?” Then I replied, “No, I’ve never seen a dog

Japanese, there is no practical method of comparison

go into a vegetable patch, but nor have I ever seen aapart from to modify nouns by attaching an adjective

cat go into a pond, swim around and catch a fish. But

or adverb. In the case of verbs too, there are no

95% of cats in Japan love fish.” The foods that havecomparatives. In Japanese, we rarely make use of

りぶ・らぶ・あにまるず 神戸アニマルケア国際会議 2012

comparative expressions and there are few absoluteteam sports in which each player’s role is clear. On theexpressions either. The Japanese language has plenty

other hand, most Japanese sports are undertaken aloneof static expressions, but is relatively poor in terms ofor else one-on-one and there is a strong emphasis on

dynamic expressions.

harmony and coordination. Among hunting people,
there is usually a person who takes a leadership role.

I was bothered about where this difference in

Often this leader makes the decisions and his or her

expressive style came from, and it took me three years

subordinates follow them. In Western countries, when

before I came to a satisfactory conclusion. Therea company is recruiting new employees, the company

are very few books in Japan that mention this sortalways tests candidates on their leadership qualities. Itof subject. The only one I could find was a book on

is generally considered that those lacking leadershipthe subject of comparative pet cultures, written byqualities are inferior. I conclude that the differences

Giichi Kamo, a former president of Otaru University of

between Japanese and Westerners stem largely from

Commerce. I couldn’t find anything else. There weresuch differences in culture and in the process of social

no books by Westerners who study the Japanese.

development.

Accordingly, I decided to find out for myself why thisdifference existed. So whenever I had a chance to make

Just now, I mentioned rice cultivation. At that time,a business trip to Europe, I made a point of visiting the

I showed a figure. When one plants rice, if it takes amuseums and art galleries in that place.

month for a person to plant an entire field moving fromthe left side to the right, it will be difficult to judge

If you visit art galleries in particular, and you view

when the time is ripe to harvest at the various parts ofpictures of members of the aristocracy painted in

the crop field. But if everybody plants a single paddy

the eighteenth century, you will almost always findfield of rice together, then they at least know that thea realistically painted dog standing or sitting at thecorrect harvesting time for all the rice will be the same.

subject’s feet. However, if we look at traditional
Japanese ukiyo-e illustrations or hunting scenes,

I thought that the differences between how people

we very rarely come across depictions of dogs. Andin various countries treat cats and dogs have comeeven when dogs do appear, they are never drawn in

about through culture and history. For this reason, 27

realistic proportions as they are in Western painting.

or 28 years ago, I concluded that the Japanese do not

This led me to think more about whether differences

necessarily have to follow the Western style in theirin the development of Western countries and Japan

treatment of these pets.

contributed to this result, or whether it was due tomore fundamental differences between hunting peoples

For hunting people, it is important to know what kinds

and agricultural peoples.

of animals are moving at what times, and it is necessary
to formulate clear instructions about the roles andWhen I thought about this more deeply, I noticed that

responsibilities of each member of the team. Also,

agricultural people tend to mostly work alone. Almost

working dogs are necessary. But in Japan, throughout

the only time they work in groups is when they are

the country’s long history, people have rarely needed

planting rice. On the other hand, hunting people workdogs in the course of their everyday lives. As an

mostly as a team. In the hunting lifestyle, at certain

exception to this general statement, dogs were used

times of the year, certain animals pass through certainby hunting communities in places such as Tohoku,

places, and if the hunters do not work as a team, they

and also by the Ainu in Hokkaido. I think much thewould not be able to survive the winter. They would diesame can also be said of the rest of Asia. A look at thefrom hunger due to food shortage. If you think about

different breeds of dog serves to illustrate this point.

it, many Western sports that come from Northern

Currently, 389 dog breeds are approved by the FCIEurope are team sports. Both soccer and rugby are

and almost all of these breeds originated in Europe.

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By contrast, almost all native Japanese dogs are close

culture has developed, the original role for dogs has

relatives of the Shiba, which is hardly a special breed.

mostly disappeared and the relationship between dog

These facts tend to support my theory.

owner and dog has changed accordingly.

Western people are very precise in their thinking,Also, 30 years ago, purebred dogs accounted for about

especially about the roles played by organizations

40% of pet dogs and the rest were mongrels. Theseand about responsibilities and instructions. They aredays over 70% of pet dogs are purebred.

generally much better at organizing things than weJapanese are.

Let me tell you another interesting thing. Comparedwith pet owners in Western countries, Japanese pet

In addition, over the past 30 years, perceptions toward

owners try harder to maintain the health of their dogs

animals have changed greatly in Japan, which meansand cats. On the average, Japanese pet owners takethere has been a considerable shift in the relationships

their animals to a veterinarian for a health examination

between people and dogs and cats. At the start of the

4.6 times per year. In the US, the corresponding figure

1980s, there were about 4.7 million dogs kept in Japan.

is 2.1 times per year. These days, at least 91% of

At present, there are more than 10 million. So there has

Japanese pet owners visit a vet at least once a year,

been an enormous increase in numbers over the past

whereas as recently as 30 years ago the rate was 45%.

25 years.

In the US, the number of owners who take their pet tothe vet at least once a year is 81%. Accordingly, based

In the 1980s, the main reasons given by Japaneseon this data, we can say that compared with pet owners

pet owners for buying pet food were price, taste andin other countries, Japanese owners tend to have thenutrition. Since then, their reasons for purchasingclosest relationships with their dogs as family members.

have changed greatly. This figure shows along thevertical access how ordinary pet owners regard theirThis figure shows the results of two surveys that wererelationship with their dog, for instance, as a family

conducted using the same methodology. The firstmember, as a pet, or just an animal. In the old days,

was carried out 30 years ago and the second one twomost dogs were kept outside, and many owners simply

years ago. In these surveys, people were asked why

regarded them as animals. Some people did regard

they bought pet food and what was important when athem as pets but very few thought of them as family

dog became a member of the family. In 1982, the top

members. However, according to a similar survey

reasons for buying pet food were that it seemed tasty

carried out recently, many dog owners now regard

and that it served its purpose in feeding pets. Today,

their dogs in the same way as they do their human

however, ‘peace of mind’, ‘safety’, ‘trustworthiness’ andfamily members. So nutrition has become a very

‘health’ are the most important criteria, as you can see

important key driver for pet food purchasing. This isfrom this figure.

because the number of purebred small dogs kept as
pets has increased significantly, and also because an

If we look at this on a country-by-country basis,overwhelming number of pet dogs are now kept inside

the results are also very interesting. Our company

the house.

conducted essentially the same survey in the UK,
France and Germany. Although there were some slight266

In this conceptual diagram, small breeds are shown

differences in the questions asked, we can make abottom right. This is an example from Australia. About

comparison with results obtained in the Japanese

15 years ago, the average weight of dogs in Australia

surveys. What the results reveal is that while in Japan,

was about 25kg, but now it is down to 15kg. I think‘peace of mind’ and ‘safety’ are considered the mostthis is because, originally, the basic meaning of dogs

important points, in Europe, the ‘tastiness’ is a veryin Western countries was as working animals. But asimportant reason for purchasing pet food. So it seems

りぶ・らぶ・あにまるず 神戸アニマルケア国際会議 2012

that Japan’s development process has been different

systematically analyzed academically. Certainly,

compared to European countries. I feel that, to some

activities such as those conducted by the IAHAIO

extent, the ways in which people and dogs interact are(International Association of Human Animal Interaction

different.

Organizations) have been ongoing for the past 30 years
so far, but compared with human medicine I think the

Next, I would like to speculate about the pet fooddevelopment of this field is 40 to 50 years behind theindustry in the future. As the number of single people

times.

increased and as the social advancement of women
progressed in the West, the number of pet cats has

So as to improve this situation, in future society, we

increased significantly. Social advancement has goneneed to raise recognition for the social importance ofhand-in-hand with later marriage, a reduced birth rate,companion animals. Moreover, we need to promotesmaller families and greater longevity. Also, internet-

the social acceptance of companion animals, as wellbased communications in place of face-to-face meetingas their training and vaccination. Indeed, we haveis contributing to a sense of increased alienation. Even

to push these things forward rapidly from now on.

within a single office, people are relying more andWe also have to promote the need for pet owners tomore on email for communication. When people speaktake proper responsibility and adopt an appropriate

face to face, their conversations tend to develop inmanner. Otherwise, even when people are eager to live

various directions, but when exchanges are limited towith companion animals, if this activity leads to social

email, one-way opinions and one-way responses arefriction, not many people will affirm companion animal

exchanged with little or no expansiveness. This has led

activities. I believe these things are important for us.

people to become increasingly isolated socially.
Major environmental changes may occur for short
Moreover, I am sure that many people are using

periods with increasing frequency in the future. As

Amazon and Rakuten on-line shopping to buy goods.

Charles Darwin argued in On the Origin of Species, it is

These online retailers are so convenient that there is

not the most intelligent of the species that survive, nor

no longer any need to visit bricks and mortar shops.

is it the strongest. It is the one most able to adapt toTechnology will continue to progress and we willchanges in the environment. Today, with major changes

become even more out of touch with the natural world.

occurring socially, people are suffering increasingly

Economic and social life is now going on 24 hours afrom isolation. Human relationships are becoming lessday, and more and more people are living in high-riseand less substantial. In view of these various social

apartment or condominium buildings. As a result of all

phenomena, I believe that the importance of companion

these changes, human relations are becoming more andanimals will continue to increase.

more diluted. The idea of close relations between nearneighbors begins to sound like a very old-fashioned

Thank you very much for listening.

story, and people are suffering a sense of isolation.
People these days are also tending to marry later, orto remain single, and to divorce in greater numbers
than before. It would be wonderful if people could live
together with others until the end of their days. But inmany cases people have to live alone for long periods.
This sort of situation can act as a spur to animalcompanion activities. I have read several books about
how to develop such activities, but relationships
between animals and people have not yet been

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りぶ・らぶ・あにまるず 神戸アニマルケア国際会議 2012