Anyone know the translation?
My Japanese wife has no idea. Except, maybe “petu sitta.”
The word “rusuban” (留守番) means caretaker in Japanese, and you can look for “petto no rusuban” (ペットの留守番) or “petto shittaa” (ペットシッター)… a rather unfortunate romanization. :rolleyes:
A company I found as an example: http://www.rusubanwannyan.com/
Pet Sitter Rusuban Wan-nyan (that last word meaning puppies and kitties, basically).
ペットシッター gets a lot of hits. ペットのお世話代行 seems to be a more formal (albeit more general) term as well.
Secondary question: In a couple of the responses above, the word “pet” is apparently moved in to Japanese pretty much as-is from English, but also made to conform to Japanese syllabary. Does Japanese lack a single native word for the concept of a “pet?”
No, they do have one: aigan dobutsu (愛玩動物). But it’s not really used outside of formal names of organizations and in some legal contexts.
Having a native word never stops the Japanese from adopting English words. “Sankyuu” (thank you) and “Bai bai” (bye bye) are used alongside the Japanese “Arigatou” and “Sayonara”.
I think the term “petsitter” is becoming more and more prevalent. Many Japanese already know the English terms “pet*” and “babysitter”, so “petsitter” could be easily explained. A more detailed explanation would be “飼い主に代わってペットの世話をする人” (a person who takes care of a pet in place of its owner).
Interestingly enough, there is already a chain of Japanese businesses called Petsitter SOS.
- In Japan, the pronunciation “ペット” (pet/ petto), also refers to PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) soft drink bottles.