owning and adopting pets in Japan?

[kala83]

This is something I have been wondering about for quite a while, I have been trying to research this topic on my own and I can not find very much at all on the topic.
I do not currently live in Japan but in a few years from now I do plan on moving there probably with Aeon to peruse a job in English teaching, eventually I would like to find my own apartment and still be in the same job market as what I will be coming to Japan with. Once I settle into the country comfortably with my Boyfriend. I would like to look into getting some pets to keep me company, I have always been a big animal lover and love having little creatures around me.:-)
But I don't know much about how Japan works legally with animals, I don't know what is legal to own and what is not in Japan. I don't know if all places allow you to have animals and what kind of restrictions I will come across if I want to live in an apartment.
Also I really would prefer to adopt animals as opposed to buying them out of pet stores, since we really don't know where those animals come from and I just like giving a poor little animal a second chance. What I really want to know is ferrets, and bunnies legal in Japan? Because I would really like to look into adopting these types of animals if I can, I also really like fish to. So if there are any good reliable pet stores that carry pets I would be interested in hearing about those? Maybe like if there are any major pet store lines in the country? (Like Petco in the U.S.) Or are there any locally owned pet stores like you can find in the U.S. too?
lol I know I have turned this into a huge post, but like I said I haven’t had much luck finding things on this topic so all of my questions in my head are kind of spilling out of my head. I hope I don't sound to dumb with any of these questions. And hopefully I can get some good answers back, for future reference for when I do actually move into the country.
lol I just want to be prepared when I move so that I can be as comfortable as possible when I finally get settled.
Thank you for listening.

[GaijinPunch]

The outlook for you is painfully bleak. After doing some looking around, you will find that (at least in Tokyo) pets are frowned upon by owners of most apartments. Some places will of course allow them, but in my experience you are going to find your options somewhat limited, and as a foreigner the cards are already stacked way against you.

On the other hand, I see about 20 dogs a day in my neighborhood, so it's not totally unheard of. However, it's quite likely that these people own their own places.

An ex of mine inherited a cat that I was pretty attached to when I moved here. I went back and saw him a few times and he promptly ignored her the whole time I was there. That was probably the worst part about moving here.

[Mike Cash]

A large factor to consider is how long you intend to be here. If you will be here just a year or two like most folks, then as a responsible pet owner (which I feel sure you must be) you have to give thought to what you're going to do with the animals when it comes time for you to leave. Depending on your particular circumstances, it may be that the responsible thing to do is to tough it out and abstain from pet ownership while you are here.

[kala83]

A large factor to consider is how long you intend to be here. If you will be here just a year or two like most folks, then as a responsible pet owner (which I feel sure you must be) you have to give thought to what you're going to do with the animals when it comes time for you to leave. Depending on your particular circumstances, it may be that the responsible thing to do is to tough it out and abstain from pet ownership while you are here.
Well actually its funny you mention that because, I am actually trying to not buy large pets like what I would like to own right now because I know I am planning on moving to Japan. I came to the conclusion a long time ago that if I was going to move to Japan I wanted to stay there for as long as possible just cuz I know teaching there would be a lot more profitable then coming back home. And like I said if I was to get any pets it would be much further along down the road after I had stored away a bit of money.
I did kind of get the impression that if I wanted to look into keeping pets like I do now in Japan, then probably keeping them in an apartment would not be the best course of action...if it is at all possible for me..I would like to try and look at possibly buying a house in Japan since I am planning on staying here. But I don't know to much about what kinds of options I would have and of course I would have to live in an apartment for quite a while, while saving up ..but probably if I would like to keep pets with as little stress as possible a house would be the best thing to look at I think.