A Japanese man identified as Toco is much in the news these days. The reason: He made the headlines in 2020 when he got a hyper-realistic dog suit worth INR 12 lakhs made for himself to turn into a border collie. More recently, he said that he now wants to turn into other animals like a bear, panda, or more. But, it is noted that Toco is not alone. In fact, in 2023, another Japanese man spent a whopping three million Yen (roughly INR 20 lakhs) to transform into a wolf!
Meet Toru Ueda, a Japanese engineer, who prefers to unwind after a busy week by dressing up in a wolf suit as it helps him escape from the troubles of being a human.“When I wear my costume I feel I’m no longer human,” the 32-year-old told the UK Times. “I’m free of human relationships. All kinds of troubles, related to work and other things — I can forget about them,” Toru told the UK Times in an earlier interview.
Just like Toco who wears a dog suit, Toru got his giant wolf suit made by the company Zeppet, which is known for making hyper-realistic costumes for movies and TV series. As per reports, Toru met Zeppet‘s team three times in person and exchanged over 40 emails with them to share his ideas. And while Toru wanted his wolf suit to look realistic, he also wanted to be able to walk while wearing it. So, his suit is that of a wolf standing on its hind legs. Zeppet’s team of three employees created Toru’s wolf suit in roughly seven weeks.
“At the final fitting, I was amazed at my transformed self in the mirror… My order to ‘look like a real wolf walking on hind legs’ was difficult – to say the least – but the complete suit looked exactly like what I imagined,” Toru said about his wolf costume.
Meet Toru Ueda, a Japanese engineer, who prefers to unwind after a busy week by dressing up in a wolf suit as it helps him escape from the troubles of being a human.“When I wear my costume I feel I’m no longer human,” the 32-year-old told the UK Times. “I’m free of human relationships. All kinds of troubles, related to work and other things — I can forget about them,” Toru told the UK Times in an earlier interview.
Just like Toco who wears a dog suit, Toru got his giant wolf suit made by the company Zeppet, which is known for making hyper-realistic costumes for movies and TV series. As per reports, Toru met Zeppet‘s team three times in person and exchanged over 40 emails with them to share his ideas. And while Toru wanted his wolf suit to look realistic, he also wanted to be able to walk while wearing it. So, his suit is that of a wolf standing on its hind legs. Zeppet’s team of three employees created Toru’s wolf suit in roughly seven weeks.
“At the final fitting, I was amazed at my transformed self in the mirror… My order to ‘look like a real wolf walking on hind legs’ was difficult – to say the least – but the complete suit looked exactly like what I imagined,” Toru said about his wolf costume.
Photo: Zeppet’s website
Talking about turning into a wolf, Toru also said, “When I look in the mirror, I see a wolf, and that is very moving. I’m not a werewolf — that’s a kind of monster, and I am not a monster.”
Meanwhile, psychologists say that people like Toco and Toru– who like turning into animals– indicate that they may be a Therian. The word Therian, which is derived from Greek, is used for people who identify themselves as non-human animals.
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