Japanese man who became a dog says he wants others follow in his footsteps in first interview

The man who spent over £12,000 turning himself into a dog named Toco, has given his first in-costume interview.

The interview with EFE, a Spanish international news agency, is his first interview as Toco, after telling MailOnline last year that transforming into a dog is all he’s thought about “ever since I can remember.”

Toco went viral after many were astonished at the lengths the person had gone to to fulfil their canine dreams. The man’s identity has always been concealed as he explained that he does not want coworkers to the aware of his unconventional interest.

“Since I was a child I wanted a change,” he shared. “When I am dressed in the suit I feel happy because my dreams come true.”

He explained that he began his “transformation” two years ago. He commissioned “a company that will manufacture a custom-made suit.” The making of the suit took around 40 days, and the finished product weight roughly 4 kilos.

I was interviewed as a person who became a dog!www.youtube.com

In a previous interview with Mynavi, he explained the reasoning behind his collie appearance.

“I made it a collie because it looks real when I put it on.

“My favourite is quadrupedal animals, especially cute ones. Among them, I thought that a big animal close to me would be good, considering that it would be a realistic model, so I decided to make it a dog.

“I met such a condition and made collie, my favourite breed of dog.”

A representative from Zeppet, the company that made the costume, gave insight on its creation: “The point is that the skeleton of a dog can be reproduced on the skeleton of a human. Since the structure of the skeleton is very different, we spent a lot of time studying how to make it look like a dog.”

The man behind Toco, who has over 50,000 YouTube subscribers, shared that receives lots of positive messages. Including from some that want to follow in his footsteps.

“I received all kinds of messages, among the positive messages, some tell me that they want to do what [I’ve done],” he shared.

“This has allowed me to see that there are other people like me.”

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.