The pet economy continues to boom and stray animal rescue is becoming a popular content genre due to it being more exciting than showing off your pet like the viral “evil silver shade”. Brands such as Naixue (FKA Nayuki) are also collaborating with stray cat rescuers for not just the buzz but also ESG marketing. Charitable releases of merch might not be as rare as we think and welcomes a new era in animal protection in China, but when the one doing that is an indie rock band, and from Japan no less, it becomes newsworthy. The band in question is Kanekoayano, formerly known as Kaneko Ayano.
The release is a collaboration between Kanekoayano, SoundFact (声场), the promoter of the band’s upcoming China tour and stray cat rescue organisation RHR (Rescue, Heal, Rehome, 上海领养之家) in Shanghai. The band created a poster and an exclusive round phone holder, which will set you back 39 RMB (5.37 USD), both featuring frontwoman Kaneko Ayano’s doodle of a cat. All proceeds, apart from the costs will be donated to RHR to pay veterinarian bills.
RHR has recently collaborated with homeware brand CASUCA to create a foundation called CAdoption and released a loungewear collection with cat graphics. 10% of all earnings will be used towards adopting stray cats.
Kanekoayano is a new moniker recently adopted by singer-songwriter Kaneko Ayano (カネコアヤノ) and her band to emphasise the collaborative process the band goes through to create music. Frontwoman Kaneko is known for keeping three cats, two of them rescues. Not only do cats regularly appear in her lyrics but also feature as a doodle and band mascot. Her love for cats may or may not stem from her family name “Kaneko” includes “neko”, which means cat in Japanese.
The charitable release of the tour merch not only helps RHR but is also incredibly on-brand for Kaneko and the band, for they are known for their signature warm sound. The band’s tour will include four dates in Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Sichuan and Guangzhou, Guangdong between 4 and 8 December. They played several shows around Asia this year and are due to embark on their third UK mini tour in as many years next year.
