Native Japanese Dog Breeds

The Akita Inu was declared a natural monument in 1931 and were originally from the Akita prefecture (northern Japan). They were known as Odate dogs until they were declared national treasures. These dogs were bred for hunting larger game, such as deer, wild boar and bear. They are typical of the spitz-type - stocky, curled tail, and erect ears. Red, brindle, and white are the only accepted colors for this breed. Unlike their American cousins, the Japanese Akita is not to have a black mask, loose skin, or too much mass. Akitas are work dogs - they are highly intelligent and easily trained, though they are also stubborn, headstrong and bore easily. They are now commonly used as police and guard dogs, though some Akitas are also used in therapy, sledding, and as helper dogs for the disabled. Like several other of the Japanese breeds, Akitas do not bark excessively, and indeed, are silent hunters.

In 1937, Helen Keller brought the first Akita to the US, a puppy name Kamikaze-go. Though this puppy died a year later, the Japanese replaced Kamikaze with his brother, Kenzan-go. During World War II, an order went out that all dogs, except German Shepards (commonly used by the military), were to be caught and killed for meat and fur to line soldiers' uniforms. The Akita population was decimated, and would have become extinct if not for a few people (mainly Morie Sawataishi) who saved the Akita by calling them Japanese Shepherds and breeding them to German Shepherds. In the years that followed the war, a concentrated effort was made to create a sustainable Akita population. The Akita population in the US grew after the war, when many American servicemen brought Akitas home with them. Japanese breeders have concentrated on returning the breed to more of it's original type, whereas American breeders tended to breed for mass and size. The result was that there are now two very different Akitas- the smaller, more delicate Japanese Akita, and the heavy boned American Akita.

Note: The American Akita is an American construct. So, why am I including it in a lens about Native Japanese dog breeds? Good question. The majority of people don't realize that there are two Akita breeds, so I included them both for education purposes (ok, I really just included the America Akita because that's what I own!)

The American Kennel Club and the Canadian Kennel Club are the last of the world's major kennel clubs to deny that there are two breeds of Akita. The Fédération Cynologique Internationale (or FCI - an international federation of kennel clubs from over 80 countries) and most other kennel clubs have officially separated Akitas into two breeds - the American Akita (originally known to the FCI as the Great Japanese Dog) and the Japanese Akita (Akita Inu or Akita-ken).

Though both breeds obviously share ancestry, as the video below shows, there are marked differences in the two breeds. The most obvious are the heavier bone structure of the American Akita, and the more fox-like face of the Japanese Akita. Also different are the breed standard colors. American Akitas are allowed to be pretty much any color, including pinto and with black masks. The Japanese Akita, on the other hand, cannot have a black mask (white is acceptable), and can only be red, fawn, sesame, white, or brindle.

There are many sides to the continuing debate in North America as to whether or not the Akita should be officially recognized as two breeds. This isn't something that will likely be decided in the US for awhile. Until then, most Americans and Canadians say that there is one breed of Akita, with two types. Personally, I feel there are two separate breeds, and I've presented this lens in that light. For the record, I own American Akitas (the first two pictures on this lens are of Kobiyashi and his dad, my dog, Keyser Soze).

The Shiba Inu is the smallest of the original Japanese dog breeds. Many people often confuse the Shiba for a small Japanese Akita due to their similar features and coat colors. The Shiba are not from any one particular area of Japan. Shiba means something like kindling (small branches), which could refer either to their small stature, their fiery color, or where these dogs were used to hunt. The Shiba is considered to be one of the most primitive and oldest of the Japanese breeds. It is believed that this breed was brought to Japan during the Jomon Period (8000 BC to 200 BC). They were bred to be small game hunters, and exhibit the same fierce, loyal, headstrong personalities typical to spitz-type breeds.

Much like other Japanese breeds, the Kai ken was originally bred as a hunting dog - mainly wild boar and deer. These dogs are narrower than their cousins, but are still a typical spitz-type dog. They are usually a one person/one family dog, and were not considered to make good family pets until more recent years. A distinguishing feature of the Kai is their brindle coat, which is generally black, red, or red-black. Puppies are born a solid color, but their coats brindle as they mature. This feature, along with their fierce nature, has given them the name Tora-ken, or Tiger dog.

The Kishu Inu is named after the mountain region were it was originally bred (south of Osaka on the island of Kyushu). This breed is closely related to the Kai, Shikoku, and Hokkaido dogs. It is larger and broader than the Kai inu, but smaller than the Shikoku. Like the other breeds, the Kishu hunted wild boar, but today it is mostly a family pet, due to their docile and quiet nature. Since 1934, when the breed was declared a natural monument, only solid colored coats are accepted. The most common color today is a solid white.

The Shikoku Inu originated in the Kochi prefecture on the island of Shikoku in southern Japan, hence the second name, Kochi-ken. Due to the isolation of the island, the Shikoku is considered one of the purest dog breed. This has been helped by the Japanese restricting any crossbreeding with these breed. In 1937 the breed was declared a national treasure. It is rare to see a Shikoku outside of Japan, but there are a few non-Japanese breeders worldwide. The Shikoku was originally bred to hunt deer and wild boar, and still retains a very high prey drive.

The Hokkaido-ken was named after the Ainu tribe, believed to be Caucasians, living in Japan over 3,000 years ago. The Ainu were driven off the main island of Japan and forced to settle on the island of Hokkaido. The Ainu tribe's spitz-type dog was designated a Japanese Natural Monument in 1937 and is rarely seen outside Japan. It is considered to be one of the oldest and "wildest" of the Japanese breeds, and has rarely been crossed with other breeds. Like other Japanese breeds, these dogs were used for guarding, hunting boar & deer, and as draft animals.

The Tosa Inu is not a pure Japanese dog, but since it was basically created in Japan by breeding the Shikoku Inu to large western dog breeds, such as the Mastiff, Bulldog, Great Dane, Saint Bernard, and a few others, it is considered a native Japanese dog. The Tosa is a fighting dog ( Japanese dog fighting is very different from the pit fighting we see in the US). Tosas are known as the Sumo wrestlers of the dog world. In fact, some highly-prized Tosas have earnes the title Yokozuna, which is reserved for the highest ranked professional Sumo wrestlers.

Hachi-ko was a white Akita born in Japan about 1924. He was adopted by a professor at the University of Tokyo when he was a few months old. The professor took the train from Shibuya to the University every morning for work, and Hachi-ko would accompany to the station every morning. Hachi-ko would then wait at the train station for the professor to come every night. Unfortunately, when Hachi was just 18 months old, Professor Ueno died from a sudden stroke while at work. Hachi waited at the train station for his beloved master to come home, but, of course, the professor never returned again.

Despite being given to a new family after the professor died, Hachi-ko continued to look for his master. Nearly every night, for 10 years until Hachi died in 1935, Hachi would return to the Shibuya station and wait for Professor Ueno. Regular train commuters recognized Hachi as the pprofessor's dog, and gave him food and water to sustain him while he waited. Hachi-ko would only appear at the train station at night, precisely when the train from Tokyo was due.

Before Hachi-ko died, he became a local celebrity. In 1932, a newspaper article introduced the faithful canine to the rest of Japan, and Hachi quickly became a national symbol of loyalty and faithfulness, traits that the Akita has always been well known for.

After Hachi-ko's death, a statue of him was erected outside the Shibuya train station where he had waited so patiently for his beloved Professor for so many years. Later, two more statues were erected in honor of Hachi-ko - one outside the Odate train station and one outside the Akita Dog Museum, also in Odate. The statue in Shibuya has become a popular place for lovers to meet, partly due to the loving faithfulness the statue has some to symbolize.

Recently, Hollywood made a movie about this story, called Hachiko: A Dog's Story. The movie stars Richard Gere, and is set in America, rather than Japan. If you see the movie, grab a blox of kleenex, and take careful note of the puppies that play a young Hachi-ko. These are actually Shiba Inu puppies, where as the dog playing the adult Hachi is a Japanese type Akita. The movie will be released on DVD on March 9, 2010.

The story of Hachi-ko became famous world-wide. Helen Keller heard the story of the faithful Hachi-ko and asked to meet one of these loyal dogs. On her trip to Japan in 1937, she was given an Akita puppy named Kamikaze-go (it was rare for an Akita, a Japanese national treasure, to be given to "outsiders"). Unfortunately, this puppy died about a year later, but the Japanese government made a gift of one of Kamikaze-go's brothers, Kenzan-go. Helen Keller is credited with having introduced the Akita to American through these two dogs.

Helen wrote of her beloved Kamikaze-go:

Hachi-ko

"If ever there was an angel in fur, it was Kamikaze. I know I shall never feel quite the same tenderness for any other pet. The Akita dog has all the qualities that appeal to me - he is gentle, companionable and trusty"