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Fact Check: Did a Japanese Millionaire Spend Rs.220 Crore to Become a Dog?
A viral Rs.220-crore dog-surgery story is fake; Japanese man Toco only used realistic animal costumes to look like a dog.
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Recently, strange images and videos have gone viral on social media claiming that a Japanese millionaire named Jaso or Jason spent Rs.220 crore on surgery to become a dog. This claim is false.
The viral story appears to be a distorted version of the real story of a Japanese man known online as Toco. He became famous in 2023 after videos of him dressed as a realistic dog went viral.
Toco did not undergo surgery to become a dog. Instead, he spent around 2 million Japanese yen, or about Rs.11–12 lakh, on a highly realistic Collie costume made by the Japanese company Zeppet.
In 2023, videos showed Toco walking on a leash and interacting with real dogs while wearing the costume. In 2024, he got another realistic animal costume, this time designed as an Alaskan Malamute. Zeppet confirmed that it made the costume, which took around 60 days to complete.
Toco has kept his real identity private. He has also spoken about wanting to dress as other animals, such as a panda or bear, but said that creating some animal costumes is difficult because humans and animals have different body structures.
There is also no clear evidence that the man shown in the latest viral images is Toco. The images could show another person wearing a costume or could even be AI-generated.
So, the Rs.220-crore surgery story is fake. Toco is real, and his realistic animal costumes are real, but he did not undergo surgery to transform himself into a dog.