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Paper short abstract

An exploration of how companion animals are cared for in Okinawa, Japan, based on multi-species ethnographic fieldwork and participant observation as a language interpreter at a cosmopolitan veterinary clinic, which provide data on social rituals and more-than-human clinical entanglements.

Paper long abstract

This paper explores ways that companion animals, namely cats and dogs, are cared for in Okinawa, Japan. Research is based on multi-species ethnographic fieldwork with animal welfare centres, veterinary clinics, rescue organisations, pet shops, pet owners, pet funeral homes, pet breeders, and foster care facilities in Okinawa and other locations, with a focus on participant observation conducted as a language interpreter at a cosmopolitan veterinary clinic that serves Okinawan, mainland Japanese, and expat clients, including members and affiliates of the United States military stationed in Japan. Enquiries are led by data on social rituals amongst staff members in the veterinary community, and on clinical accounts that feature converging perspectives of stakeholders in the moral business of caring for pets, as well as more-than-human entanglements and agencies.

Key words: multi-species ethnography, human-animal relations, more-than-human entanglements, nonhuman agency, similarities and alterities in approaches to pet care, veterinary anthropology, medical anthropology, animal welfare, euthanasia, Okinawa