In My Neighbors the Yamadas, the family dog is named Pochi.
Pochi is the pet dog belonging to the Yamada family, whose everyday life forms the basis of Isao Takahata’s film. The family includes father Takashi, mother Matsuko, grandmother Shige, teenage son Noboru, and young daughter Nonoko. Pochi appears as part of this household ensemble, even though the film’s main attention usually falls on the family’s arguments, routines, and small domestic crises.
The film is structured as a series of short comic vignettes rather than one continuous adventure. Its episodes cover familiar experiences such as losing a child in a department store, disagreements over television, parental expectations, and the awkwardness of growing up. That format makes Pochi an easy detail to overlook, especially because the characters’ humorous dialogue and visual style dominate many scenes.
Pochi is also easy to confuse with generic pet-name options such as Tama, but those names do not identify the Yamada family dog. My Neighbors the Yamadas is based on Hisaichi Ishii’s yonkoma comic strip and was released in Japan in 1999. It was notable for its watercolor-like visual appearance and Takahata’s observational approach to family life.