The dog, meanwhile, is Soichiro-san, the pet of Kyoko Otonashi, the female lead of Maison Ikkoku, yet another Takahashi series.
The Niigata connection runs deeper than that, though, because it turns out that not only is Takahashi fully aware that Inagaki Veterinary Clinic has a sign with her illustrations on it, she drew it specifically for them!
Seen on Google Street View above is Inagaki Veterinary Clinic, located in the suburbs of Niigata City.
She may be one of the biggest names in the manga/anime world, but Takahashi hasn’t forgotten her roots.