JAPAN TODAY



 

The Buddhist Gohonzon Devotion Object Scratching Post for Cats takes the idea of worshipping your pet to the very next level — or should that be, to an extreme?

Created by Japan’s most innovative pet products brand Felissimo, this scratching post is inspired by the gohonzon.

 

Also known as honzon, these are common features of veneration and devotion in Buddhist temples, usually including statues, scrolls, or pictures of the Buddha sitting on a lotus pedestal and surrounded by a full-body halo, often decorated with smaller images of his face (here they are small cats).

The Buddhist Gohonzon Devotion Object Scratching Post for Cats is made from sturdy corrugated cardboard that makes a perfect surface for your cat to trim its nails. Yours will certainly find this a convenient way to scratch it nail and the most comfortable spot to rest afterwards (the scratcher’s curved seat will certainly help).

 

Give your precious ball of fur the lotus throne it deserves, wait for the right moment, and take some great Instagrammable pictures that prove your pet really is the divine being you always suspected! The only issue is that this might mean your feline friend gets an inflated opinion of itself and demands to be treated like a god every day.

It is also an interesting sign of how religion is regarded in Japan. Elsewhere, such an appropriation would perhaps be condemned as possibly sacrilegious or, at the least, improper, but here the attitudes

 

toward faith are more flexible and allow plenty of leeway even for commercial products like this.

Whatever your creed, the Buddhist Gohonzon Devotion Object Scratching Post for Cats is now available for international orders from Japan Trend Shop.