Man who spent £12,500 on lifelike dog costume reveals what his family thinks of his hobby
The Japanese man who forked out thousands to look like a dog has revealed what his family thinks of his, um, lifestyle choice.
In July, the man who goes by Toco on YouTube, went viral after he posted a video of himself walking around Tokyo wearing a hyper realistic Border Collie suit, which cost him £12,500 to have custom made.
“Do you remember your dreams from when you are little? You want to be a hero or a wizard,” he wrote on the viral clip, before saying his life-long dream was to become a dog.
“I remember writing in my grade school graduation book that I wanted to be a dog and walk outside," he explained, adding that he chose to become a Border Collie due to the breed's size.
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“When I fulfilled that dream, this is how it turned out," he said.
Now Toco has said people have the wrong idea about his... hobby.
“My desire to be an animal is like a desire to transform, a desire to be something that I am not,” he told the New York Post.
He also added that he wears the costume maybe once a week, mostly at home.
Toco the human says his family has come to accept Toko the dog.
“The family was surprised, but received it favourably,” he said.
“I am very happy that they accepted it.”
In a separate interview with the Mirror, he said: “I rarely tell my friends because I am afraid they will think I am weird.
“My friends and family seemed very surprised to learn I became an animal.”
Toco said last year that most of his colleagues are also unaware that he dresses as a dog outside of work.
“I don’t want my hobbies to be known, especially by the people I work with,” he told the Daily Mail.
“They think it’s weird that I want to be a dog. For the same reason why I can’t show my real face.”
In addition to the viral video, Toco's also amassed 19.5 million views on his YouTube channel where he shares videos of Toko the dog eating dog treats, rolling over and getting into his crate.
While he wouldn't tell the publication how much he earns from the channel, his follower based has increased to more than 50,000 since the video first went viral.
Although some people have labelled Toco's intense interest in the life of a dog as a weird fetish, he plans to continue doing what he loves.
“I’m just sad that people can think that,” he said. “I love animals and enjoy play-acting like a collie.”
He continued: “This is my hobby, so I will carry on. It makes me happy and other people happy, too.”
Keryn Donnelly