Only 3% of People in Tokyo Own a Dog or Cat

People in Tokyo tend not to keep pets.

It Feels Like People Outside Tokyo Own More Pets

I lived in Saitama until elementary school, then moved to Tokyo in my second year of junior high. I went to high school and university in Tokyo as well. My first job was in Kanagawa, but later I moved back to Tokyo.

As I progressed from a public junior high school in Tokyo → a Tokyo metropolitan high school → a university in Tokyo → working in Tokyo, the people I interacted with gradually changed from:

people living in a specific ward → people living within Tokyo’s 23 wards → people living across the Kanto region (+ some others) → people from many different prefectures

In other words, the "Tokyo density" of the people around me gradually decreased.

As the number of people I interacted with from outside Tokyo increased, I got the impression that slightly more of them owned pets. I wondered whether that was actually true, so I looked up the data and wrote down some notes.

The number of registered dogs is publicly disclosed

The data we can use are below.

Population by prefecture from the 2020 National Census
Statistical Handbook of Japan 2025
Number of registered dogs by prefecture and rabies vaccination data (FY2014–FY2024)
2025 National Dog and Cat Ownership Survey

From the census, we can obtain the population by prefecture, and from the Statistical Handbook we can obtain the average household size.

Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be official prefecture-level statistics for cats. However, dogs are well tracked—likely because of rabies control regulations.

From the national pet ownership survey we can obtain:

Total number of dogs and cats kept
Average number of pets per household

The numbers are:

Number of dogs kept: about 6.82 million
Number of cats kept: about 8.85 million
Average dogs per household: 1.36
Average cats per household: 1.78

Since 885 / 682 = 1.30 and 1.78 / 1.36 = 1.31

there are more cats overall, but households with cats tend to keep more cats per household.

So if we look at the number of households that own pets, the split between dog households and cat households is roughly 50:50.

Dog Data

	Registered Dogs	Population	Avg Dogs per Household	People per Household	Dogs / Population	Dogs / Household
Japan (Total)	6048725	125212236	1.36	2.21	3.55	7.9
Hokkaido	234280	5224614	1.36	2.04	3.30	6.7
Aomori	49776	1237984	1.36	2.34	2.96	6.9
Iwate	54183	1210534	1.36	2.39	3.29	7.9
Miyagi	101163	2301996	1.36	2.30	3.23	7.4
Akita	33157	959502	1.36	2.41	2.54	6.1
Yamagata	36777	1068027	1.36	2.61	2.53	6.6
Fukushima	86061	1833152	1.36	2.42	3.45	8.4
Ibaraki	155572	1933146	1.36	2.37	5.92	14.0
Tochigi	98574	1933146	1.36	2.38	3.75	8.9
Gunma	104756	1939110	1.36	2.35	3.97	9.3
Saitama	348398	7344765	1.36	2.28	3.49	8.0
Chiba	320995	6284480	1.36	2.23	3.76	8.4
Tokyo	558579	14047594	1.36	1.92	2.92	5.6
Kanagawa	434721	9237337	1.36	2.15	3.46	7.4
Niigata	79823	2201272	1.36	2.48	2.67	6.6
Toyama	41861	1034814	1.36	2.50	2.97	7.4
Ishikawa	47452	1132526	1.36	2.34	3.08	7.2
Fukui	29974	766863	1.36	2.57	2.87	7.4
Yamanashi	41375	809974	1.36	2.34	3.76	8.8
Nagano	97020	2048011	1.36	2.41	3.48	8.4
Gifu	113443	1978742	1.36	2.49	4.22	10.5
Shizuoka	188560	3633202	1.36	2.40	3.82	9.2
Aichi	420901	7542415	1.36	2.29	4.10	9.4
Mie	111435	1770254	1.36	2.33	4.63	10.8
Shiga	79295	1413610	1.36	2.44	4.12	10.1
Kyoto	114192	2578087	1.36	2.12	3.26	6.9
Osaka	412545	8837685	1.36	2.10	3.43	7.2
Hyogo	279840	5465002	1.36	2.23	3.77	8.4
Nara	56104	1324473	1.36	2.38	3.11	7.4
Wakayama	48605	922584	1.36	2.28	3.87	8.8
Tottori	21260	553407	1.36	2.44	2.82	6.9
Shimane	31064	671126	1.36	2.40	3.40	8.2
Okayama	100744	1888432	1.36	2.30	3.92	9.0
Hiroshima	144324	2799702	1.36	2.20	3.79	8.3
Yamaguchi	71490	1342059	1.36	2.17	3.92	8.5
Tokushima	41528	719559	1.36	2.26	4.24	9.6
Kagawa	68046	950244	1.36	2.27	5.27	12.0
Ehime	79734	1334841	1.36	2.16	4.39	9.5
Kochi	38222	691527	1.36	2.11	4.06	8.6
Fukuoka	259976	5135214	1.36	2.15	3.72	8.0
Saga	38621	811442	1.36	2.51	3.50	8.8
Nagasaki	54941	1312317	1.36	2.27	3.08	7.0
Kumamoto	80372	1738301	1.36	2.34	3.40	8.0
Oita	54023	1123852	1.36	2.22	3.53	7.8
Miyazaki	53843	1069576	1.36	2.20	3.70	8.1
Kagoshima	68782	1588256	1.36	2.11	3.18	6.7
Okinawa	62338	1467480	1.36	2.33	3.12	7.3

Defining "people who own dogs" is tricky. But similar to household chores, if we assume one person in the household mainly takes care of the dog, then:

Nationwide: 3.6%
Tokyo: 2.9%

If we instead define ownership as people living in a household with a dog, then:

Nationwide: 7.9%
Tokyo: 5.6%

So it seems fair to say that Tokyo is below the national average.

Cat Data

There are no prefecture-level statistics for cats, so I assumed that the ratio of dog owners to cat owners is roughly constant nationwide.

For example, in Kagawa Prefecture, where dog ownership rates are high , cat ownership rates are also similarly high:

So the assumption probably isn’t too far off.

	Registered Dogs	Cat/Dog Ratio	Estimated Registered Cats	Population	Avg Cats per Owning Household	Persons per Household	Cat Ownership / Population (%)	Cat Ownership / Household (%)
Japan Total	6,048,725	1.30	7,849,152	125,212,236	1.78	2.21	3.52	7.8
Hokkaido	234,280	1.30	304,014	5,224,614	1.78	2.04	3.27	6.7
Aomori	49,776	1.30	64,592	1,237,984	1.78	2.34	2.93	6.9
Iwate	54,183	1.30	70,311	1,210,534	1.78	2.39	3.26	7.8
Miyagi	101,163	1.30	131,275	2,301,996	1.78	2.30	3.20	7.4
Akita	33,157	1.30	43,026	959,502	1.78	2.41	2.52	6.1
Yamagata	36,777	1.30	47,724	1,068,027	1.78	2.61	2.51	6.6
Fukushima	86,061	1.30	111,677	1,833,152	1.78	2.42	3.42	8.3
Ibaraki	155,572	1.30	201,879	1,933,146	1.78	2.37	5.87	13.9
Tochigi	98,574	1.30	127,915	1,933,146	1.78	2.38	3.72	8.8
Gunma	104,756	1.30	135,937	1,939,110	1.78	2.35	3.94	9.3
Saitama	348,398	1.30	452,100	7,344,765	1.78	2.28	3.46	7.9
Chiba	320,995	1.30	416,540	6,284,480	1.78	2.23	3.72	8.3
Tokyo	558,579	1.30	724,842	14,047,594	1.78	1.92	2.90	5.6
Kanagawa	434,721	1.30	564,117	9,237,337	1.78	2.15	3.43	7.4
Niigata	79,823	1.30	103,583	2,201,272	1.78	2.48	2.64	6.6
Toyama	41,861	1.30	54,321	1,034,814	1.78	2.50	2.95	7.4
Ishikawa	47,452	1.30	61,576	1,132,526	1.78	2.34	3.05	7.1
Fukui	29,974	1.30	38,896	766,863	1.78	2.57	2.85	7.3
Yamanashi	41,375	1.30	53,690	809,974	1.78	2.34	3.72	8.7
Nagano	97,020	1.30	125,898	2,048,011	1.78	2.41	3.45	8.3
Gifu	113,443	1.30	147,210	1,978,742	1.78	2.49	4.18	10.4
Shizuoka	188,560	1.30	244,686	3,633,202	1.78	2.40	3.78	9.1
Aichi	420,901	1.30	546,184	7,542,415	1.78	2.29	4.07	9.3
Mie	111,435	1.30	144,604	1,770,254	1.78	2.33	4.59	10.7
Shiga	79,295	1.30	102,897	1,413,610	1.78	2.44	4.09	10.0
Kyoto	114,192	1.30	148,182	2,578,087	1.78	2.12	3.23	6.8
Osaka	412,545	1.30	535,341	8,837,685	1.78	2.10	3.40	7.1
Hyogo	279,840	1.30	363,135	5,465,002	1.78	2.23	3.73	8.3
Nara	56,104	1.30	72,804	1,324,473	1.78	2.38	3.09	7.3
Wakayama	48,605	1.30	63,072	922,584	1.78	2.28	3.84	8.8
Tottori	21,260	1.30	27,588	553,407	1.78	2.44	2.80	6.8
Shimane	31,064	1.30	40,310	671,126	1.78	2.40	3.37	8.1
Okayama	100,744	1.30	130,731	1,888,432	1.78	2.30	3.89	8.9
Hiroshima	144,324	1.30	187,283	2,799,702	1.78	2.20	3.76	8.3
Yamaguchi	71,490	1.30	92,769	1,342,059	1.78	2.17	3.88	8.4
Tokushima	41,528	1.30	53,889	719,559	1.78	2.26	4.21	9.5
Kagawa	68,046	1.30	88,300	950,244	1.78	2.27	5.22	11.9
Ehime	79,734	1.30	103,467	1,334,841	1.78	2.16	4.35	9.4
Kochi	38,222	1.30	49,599	691,527	1.78	2.11	4.03	8.5
Fukuoka	259,976	1.30	337,359	5,135,214	1.78	2.15	3.69	7.9
Saga	38,621	1.30	50,117	811,442	1.78	2.51	3.47	8.7
Nagasaki	54,941	1.30	71,294	1,312,317	1.78	2.27	3.05	6.9
Kumamoto	80,372	1.30	104,295	1,738,301	1.78	2.34	3.37	7.9
Oita	54,023	1.30	70,103	1,123,852	1.78	2.22	3.50	7.8
Miyazaki	53,843	1.30	69,870	1,069,576	1.78	2.20	3.67	8.1
Kagoshima	68,782	1.30	89,255	1,588,256	1.78	2.11	3.16	6.7
Okinawa	62,338	1.30	80,893	1,467,480	1.78	2.33	3.10	7.2

From these estimates:

People owning cats: Nationwide: 3.52% Tokyo: 2.9%
People living with cats: Nationwide: 7.8% Tokyo: 5.6%

Other Notes

Dog ownership is declining, while cat ownership is stable
Preference for dogs vs cats differs by country. For example, Russia is strongly cat-leaning, while East Asia tends to prefer dogs.
In Islam, dogs are considered ritually impure, so Muslims generally do not keep dogs as pets.