Food stalls in Japan have apparently gone to the dogs. The aptly-named “Dog’s Sweet Potato Shop”, a small kiosk selling roasted sweet potatoes, in Sapporo, Japan is manned (dogged?) by a three-year-old Shiba-Inu dog.

Japanese Twitter user @hina_shii_ver2 first learned about the unique “Dog’s Sweet Potato Shop” in her home city of Sapporo earlier this month, when her husband texted her a weird message – “There’s a dog selling sweet potatoes”. She thought he was joking, of course, but then he sent her some photos and, sure enough, they showed an adorable dog sitting behind the counter of a small kiosk, seemingly waiting for hungry customers. @hina_shii_ver2 posted several photos and videos of this unusual food-stall on Twitter and they quickly went viral. Of course they did, how often do you see a dog running a business, and a food stall, no less?

Photo: ムクケン/YouTube

The friendly Shiba-inu running his own roasted sweet potato kiosk is apparently named Ken-Kun and is three years old. Because his shop is a self-service one, his only job is to look cute for customers, and, as you can see in these photos, he’s very good at that.

The roasted sweet potatoes are kept in a heated container right outside the kiosk, so human customers can help themselves. The business runs on the “honor system”, trusting people to drop 100 yen ($0.90) into a money box for every potato they take, and so far it seems to be working just fine. After all, who would steal from a dog?

While having an adorable dog as the only employee is an effective way to draw attention, it has its drawbacks. For example, a sign on the stall lets customers know that, for obvious reasons, Ken-Kun cannot give any change, adding that tips are appreciated and go toward treats for the adorable canine.

After finishing his shift and on his days off, Ken-Kun loves going on walks with his owner.

 

After going viral internationally, Dog’s Sweet Potato Shop was featured on Japanese national television, which referred to Ken-Kun as the boss of the shop.

While most internet users found the idea of a dog running his own food stall adorable, there were also those who accused Ken-Kun’s owner of animal cruelty, claiming they forced the dog to spend hours inside an open wooden kiosk on cold winter days. Personally, I think that if this Shiba-Inu didn’t want to be there, he would simply jump out…