I have always been amazed by the Japanese fascination with cats. Hello Kitty is to Japan as Jackie Chan is to Hong Kong. Cats (Neko) are portrayed in thousands of ways through animé and it is understandable that they treat their felines with as much care and attention as their media has.

I found this website while browsing one of my favourite blogs. Cat Tailor is a Japanese site that tailor makes costumes for your felines with themes like Anne of Green Gables, the frog Prince and the like. The english translation takes some getting used to but if you are familiar with engrish you’ll know exactly what they are talking about in the descriptions. Take this for example:

The costumes each cost from 2,500 Yen to 3,600 which roughly translates to US $20-30. Not cheap if you ask me but if your pets only deserve the finest things then why wait for Halloween to splurge on these?

Here are some more samples:

These are the Anne of Green Gables, the Frog and the Sailor costumes.

*note – costume photos lifted from Cat Tailor website.

One of the various websites that take up most of my websurfing time is Flickr. I can spend all afternoon long clicking link after link of photos by people who are far more gifted than I could ever be with the camera. One of my most favourite cat photographers is Junku or Jun Kumagai. As I do not read nor speak Nihonggo (YET!) let his Flickr profile give you a proper introduction.

Junku has 5 very adorable cats namely:

Rika, Hime, Fuwari, Kin, and Nana

My personal favourite is Fuwari.

Junku is best known for his photos of ‘Airborne Cats,’ a collection of photos he took of cats that look like they’re flying. His photos are so good that you’ll see them crop up once in a while being pilfered by other people too lazy to ask for his permission.

I have yet to see a better feline fotog on flickr.

What is it about cats lounging on top of cars? Each time I leave my car outside of the garage, even for just a few hours I see traces of cat activity on the hood, the windshield and the roof of the car. On some occasions I catch the errant feline still on top of the car looking at me like I’m disturbing his relaxation time.

This cat did more than just spend some idle time on the car. It went along for a ride!

She had driven about 10 miles with the cat on top of the car, and didn’t even notice the feline when she stopped for gas.

Hutchinson said Cuddle Bug, or C.B. for short, had climbed into the back of her car as she was getting ready to leave. She put him out, but he must have jumped on the roof while she wasn’t looking, she said.

I guess the car roof got too boring?

I love, really love my cats. I talk to them and let them sleep beside me but one thing I’ll never do is to dress them up like dolls or babies. They’re cats, not dolls, not humans.

Recently I’ve seen dogs dressed up in costume. There are now pet shops that carry these items. What’s next, designer clothes?

No thanks. I prefer my pets to romp unencumbered.

This one’s a poor kitty. Mati is the cuddliest and sweetest among our felines. He loves to sit or sleep on laps and rubs against any available human. He also has a very long tail that swishes as he walks. The tail is also wrapped around the current human object of his affection.

However, there’s a drawback to having a long tail. It always gets stepped on. No matter how careful I am, Mati’s tail always finds its way into where I’m going. For two days in a row, he’s had to run away thinking something’s about to get him. Fortunately though, it has never affected his happy disposition.

Now I’m thinking, if those who are uncomfortable about their looks sometimes opt for a nose job rhinoplasty in New York City, could my little kitty be thinking of a tail-o-plasty? Hehehe!