As a Japan neophyte walking from a gig on a rainy, frigid night in Osaka, I came across an emaciated kitten who was quite pleased that I stuffed her in my jacket. I named her “Bones” (despite the all-you-can-eat deal I gave her, her physical properties never changed), and we spent two years together until one day she never came home. When I moved to Kumamoto, I fulfilled my dream in getting a dog. We spent 15 glorious years together until he died a half year ago, probably of exhaustion. But cats and dogs are often too difficult for the more transient Kumamoto residents to care for. So here is my suggestion.
When I was in college, I had a rat. I named her Mickey. She spent her nights in her cage and her daytimes roaming the dorm floor, keeping it food-free. She learned to come when I called (a “tsk tsk tsk” sound does it - rats don’t like vowels) and to ride around on my shoulder. Rats are friendly, clean, fascinating, cheap, easy to care for - and their lifespan is only 3 years. So if your stay in Kumamoto is limited but you really want a pet, visit any pet store and buy two rats (unless you have much time to socialize with them, they go crazy being alone - and make sure they’re of the same sex unless you want a whole lotta rats) and have fun handicrafting their habitat from stuff you can find in the garbage. They’ll thank you for it: their ultimate purpose was to have been fed to snakes. - William