Born and raised in Northern China (2hrs drive from Beijing), my parents bought me crickets & taught me how to catch grasshoppers when I was in early school age. They have short lifespans, so they are quite affordable and low-maintenance pets for families who aren't yet sure about (or can't yet afford to) keep pets that lives for years (cats, dogs, ...). Plus, they teach young children lessons on caring, feeding, life and death, just as well as the latter. I like it.
The Japanese are also into fighting insects, although mostly with beetles. Pokemon is more understandable with this as the idea of people collecting creatures to fight with other people's creatures is an extension of this.
The clothing patterns of the Japanese cricket vendors in the article are awesome [1]. By a "Torii Kiyohiro" [1] who seemed to have a thing for drawing/carving intricate clothing [2][3].
My partner had a jumping spider as a pet for some time in a terrarium. It was really interesting because he would jump out onto my partners arms when we opened his terrarium and then climb around and then go back after doing some wandering. Pet beetles are also pretty common (and something that I really want tbh). There are a lot of animals that you wouldn't think can be pets, but honestly, if you're helping a critter survive you'll create some attachment to them and maybe they will too. A lot of pet insects can live for 5-7 years too if done right.
I haven't looked into whether this happens in other countries, but in Turkey, when kids ask for a cat or a dog, parents will often buy them a baby chick from a local market instead. Sadly, within a week or so, once the child loses interest, the chick is often gotten rid of somehow by the parents.
Goldfish are what stereotypically served this purpose in the UK and Ireland, though this seems to have got out of fashion as pet shops no longer sell goldfish to be kept in tiny bowls.
1. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Torii_Kiyohiro_-_Thr...
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torii_Kiyohiro
3. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search?artist=Torii...
4. https://www.artic.edu/collection?artist_ids=Torii%20Kiyohiro
I recently went to this insectarium and saw a ton of stick and leaf insects, so cool how they evolved to mimic their environment to such a degree.
It's an analog Tamagotchi.