Traditional Skills from Toyama Featured in Products for Pets; Companies Repurpose Traditional Skills for Modern Market

By Kentaro Kishimoto / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

12:55 JST, March 30, 2026

TOYAMA — Companies in Toyama Prefecture, a region known for metalworking and manufacturing items for Buddhist altars, are taking advantage of their traditional skills to develop products for pets.

The move is aimed at meeting demand from owners seeking quality items for their beloved animals.

One example is Kenshin Industrial Co., a metalworking company in Himi that has developed a stainless steel comb for dogs and cats.

“The high quality of our items means they will last throughout the life of your pet,” said Fusayoshi Kawahata, a senior employee at the manufacturer.

Himi flourished as a production center for sewing needles from the Edo period (1603-1867) through the Showa era (1926-89). Kenshin Industrial itself was founded in 1918 as a needle manufacturer.

However, the company stopped producing needles around 1975, prompted mostly by the spread of sewing machines. The company then took advantage of its technology for polishing the surface of needles to a smooth finish by applying it to the production of parts for looms.

Kenshin Industrial began expanding the scope of its business in 2020 after a move to get ideas from employees resulted in the development of a comb for women. Now the company uses its needle-manufacturing technology to make the comb’s slender teeth.

Some of the people who used the comb asked the company to produce a pet version. The result was the “Wan-Nyan Comb,” which was released in 2022.

The Wan-Nyan Comb features about 40 evenly spaced teeth. With a diameter of 1 to 1.4 millimeters, the tips of the teeth are rounded by skilled employees using machines equipped with grinding stones. The rest of the teeth are polished to get a mirror-like finish.

The comb has minimal friction, reducing any pain experienced during brushing and preventing static electricity.

In June 2025, the company launched another comb, this time designed specifically for a pet’s face.

The comb is even being used at professional groomers.

“It’s smooth and doesn’t get caught on the fur,” said Atsuko Osanai, who runs a grooming salon in Yokohama. “Cats are unbothered [when we groom them with the combs].”

The pet market has been growing, according to Yano Research Institute Ltd. The market size of pet-related businesses was estimated at ¥1.91 trillion in fiscal 2024 and is projected to exceed ¥2 trillion by fiscal 2027.

Another company is Seo Inc. in Takaoka, a city that boasts a history of over 400 years in cast iron production and is one of the nation’s leading centers for manufacturing metal objects for Buddhist altars.

Seo’s products include orin, a bowl-like object that is rung when people pray for the enshrined souls.

In September 2025, the company released Tailo, an orin for pet owners.

When rung lightly with an accompanying ball-like item, the pet-oriented orin generates gentle clear sounds that differ depending on the thickness of the metal used. A pet’s photo can be placed on parts of orin.

Founded in 1938, Seo has faced a consistent decline in demand for altar items, as these days fewer houses have prayer rooms with Buddhist altars, with more people living in rental homes. The company, therefore, decided to enter the pet market.

In making Tailo, Seo focuses on producing pleasant tones by adjusting the thickness of the metal by one-hundredth of a millimeter.

“It’s a technology we’ve developed through manufacturing Buddhist altar items,” said Miya Seo, who works at the company. “So we excel at sheet metal pressing.”