[Anchorman]

Surprisingly, considering how many Japanese take pride in overworking, the latest pet fad to hit Japan is the barely moving, lazy sloth, according to AERA (8/13-20).

Sloths have already made their mark in the world of Japanese TV, with the creatures currently appearing in commercials for such blue ribbon brands as Suntory, NTV, Tsutaya Discus and Nikon.

And the sloth has seemed to have touched a nerve with the hard-working Japanese.

"Appearing alongside (heartthrob performer) Takuya Kimura created a comic gap," a spokesman for Nikon tells AERA. "But I think the main appeal has been the sense of relaxation the sloth has offered for today's tired people."

Sloths are natives of the tropical areas around Central and South America. Though they resemble primates, they are in fact close relatives of anteaters. They eat vegetables and fruits like apples and bananas. And, the women's weekly informs readers, they poop only once a week, with small, round droppings like a rabbit's.

Trade in sloths is not forbidden under the Washington Treaty, so it's theoretically possible to bring them in to Japan. However, government permits needed to import the animals are very rarely handed out.

For those who do manage to get their hands on a sloth, they're looking at paying out at least 1 million yen for the privilege. Thankfully, they're fairly easy to keep as pets.

"All you need is a room where the temperature is constantly above 25 degrees and humidity topping 50 percent," Takahisa Hosoda, sloth keeper at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo, says.

Sloths barely have any muscles, making them soft, light and virtually like a stuffed toy. It's also the dearth of muscle that stops them from moving around so much.

"In the wild, sloths eat a leaf called cecropia, but only consume about 8 grams of it a day. It doesn't give them enough energy to move around, which is why they stay so still," Kazumi Kagawa, one-time head of the Ritsurin Zoo in Matsuyama and owner of nine sloths, says. "If you have them as pets, though, they eat more and consequently move around more, too."

Kagawa calls sloths "the most environmentally friendly animal."

"They don't harm the natural environment and don't move around. They leave their feces at the bottom of the trees they live in, so they recycle the waste they create," she tells AERA. "They need to get a lot of warm sunshine. Give it to them and they could live for as long as 30 years." (By Ryann Connell)