Buddies founder Carna Terada, right, grins as volunteer Jess Carbutt offers a treat to one of the pet adoption group’s “employees” during an event at a shared workspace in Tokyo, Sept. 18, 2025. (Alex Wilson/Stars and Stripes)
TOKYO — Between frequent moves, language barriers and strict requirements, U.S. military families in Japan can face an array of obstacles when trying to adopt pets.
But a Tokyo-based organization is working to change that by connecting service members with dogs in need of homes.
In Japan, pet stores vastly outnumber shelters, and more than 80% of dogs are purchased rather than adopted, according to Japanese veterinarian Carna Terada. Frustrated by the lack of awareness and support for rescue animals, she founded Buddies, a group that helps match abandoned dogs with new owners, including foreign and military families who often struggle to navigate the country’s opaque adoption system.
“The problem around adoption in Japan is really terrible — I want to make a change,” Terada told Stars and Stripes in a recent interview at BLINK, a shared workspace in Tokyo. “I believe in the bond between dogs and people. Rescue dogs can bring healing and relaxation to people, and people can help the dogs.”
Buddies primarily works with English-speaking families to adopt dogs in Japan. However, the group also host events such as dog yoga, or “doga.” (Buddies)
Military families can face steep hurdles when trying to adopt, including language barriers and strict requirements such as property ownership, according to Terada and Buddies volunteer Jess Carbutt.
“A lot of adoption agencies are very hesitant to give a dog to an American military family, because they know the military families have to move quite frequently – and sometimes at short notice,” she said at BLINK, where Buddies occasionally hosts events.
While those agencies are trying to protect the dog’s welfare, Carbutt said, they often overlook that families can plan for unexpected moves.
“Making sure the dog has the right vaccinations, the right travel plans, a support network and community, a vet who speaks English – that kind of support. That’s what Buddies can provide,” she said.
Carbutt said she struggled to adopt in Japan through traditional avenues, being denied because she was foreign, didn’t own property and wasn’t married. She said she knows only one foreigner who successfully adopted from a regular shelter, and he owned property, had his own business, had a Japanese wife and still had to apply five times to the same agency.
Another challenge, Terada said, is that most people in Japan prefer smaller dogs because of their appearance or the limited space in homes and apartments. Americans, however, are often more open to adopting larger breeds, making them ideal candidates.
Since its founding in 2020 — and a restart in 2023 after the COVID-19 pandemic — Terada said Buddies has fostered or rehomed about 30 dogs. She has worked with U.S. Embassy Tokyo and military installations, including Yokosuka Naval Base.
For Lt. Sarah Martin, a nurse at U.S. Naval Hospital Yokosuka, and Lt. Matthew Martin, a surface warfare officer assigned to the guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey, Buddies was the obvious choice because of its English-language support and willingness to work with military families.
Lt. Sarah Martin, a nurse at U.S. Naval Hospital Yokosuka, adopted Dave, an 8-year-old mixed-breed pup, through Buddies, a Tokyo-based group that works with U.S. troops and other foreigners in Japan. (Sarah Martin)
The couple adopted an 8-year-old mixed-breed named Dave late last year.
“He has just been such a good friend to me,” Sarah Martin said by phone Tuesday. “He’s been such sweet company. We’ve lived here for a year and a half or so, but there’s such a sense of community out at the dog park. He’s got friends out there. We always look forward to seeing them.”
AloJapan.com