HISTORY

A History Of The Akita Dog
 By TATSUO KIMURA

"In order to become acquainted with the true Akita dog with the Ideal temperament and appearance, one must study deeply Into the history and development of the Akita dog from ancient to modern times." Naoto Kajiwara.

 FROM EARLIER TO MODERN TIMES
 According to Nobuo Naora (Nagara) of the Waseda University, dogs in Japan were domesticated during the Jomon Period (about 8000 B.C. to 200 B.C.). These dogs were of medium size. Large dogs were imported later into the Kanto area. Small dogs were also imported and gradually spread nationwide.

 Skeletons of small and medium dogs and a few somewhat larger dogs from that period resemble those of Japanese dogs of today. The largest dog believed to be about 1 shaku 9 sun (approximately 57.6 cm, 22.7 inches) tall based on the skull size has been found at the famous shell mound in the prefecture of Miyagi. Almost all of the skulls of these medium and small dogs have straight nasal bridges, while skulls of large dogs have a definite stop.

 Burial mounds have yielded earthen dog images, bronze bells, and dog shaped burial mound figures from ancient times show standing ears and curled tails.

Dogs are first mentioned in Japanese literature in books such as the Kojiki (Japan's Ancient Chronicles) around A.D. 682 and Nihon Shoki (First Chronicle of Japan) around A.D. 720 with tales of their use as hunting dogs.

 According to Hirokichi Saito and Yonekichi Hiraiwa, hunting dogs were used with trained hawks for almost 1500 years from around 355 to the mid 1800s.

 As early as A.D. 358, black pinto dogs resembling Japanese dogs of today are said to have come from Korea, followed by other dogs from there from time to time.

 Almost all of the dogs in picture scrolls from the Late Heian Period (897-1160) have erect ears with curled or sickle tails. Dogs with droopy ears are seen more often in later drawings.

 Western dogs began to be imported around 1570 with the opening of the port of Nagasaki to the Westerners. Large dogs such as the Mastiffs, Water Spaniels and Greyhounds from England were popular with the Japanese feudal lords.

 The fifth Tokugawa Shogun, Tsunayoshi, who reigned from 1680 to 1709, was known as the "Dog Shogun." He enacted an unpopular heavy tax to protect dogs and build dog shelters in Edo (old name for Tokyo before 1868). An outcome of this episode was the preservation of a dog registry called the Kazukesho, which lists coat colors of dogs from that period. Colors mentioned are: white, red, black, brindle, brindle pinto, black pinto, reddish black and light red.

 In 1823, Dr. Philipp Franz von Siebold, a German physician who was employed by the Dutch at Dejima in Nagasaki, reported in the Fauna Japonica that he saw three types of dogs in Japan: 1. The hunting dog with erect ears, pointed muzzle and slender body. 2. The small house dog from China, called the Chin dog with a very short muzzle. 3. The large city dog, a mongrel that resulted from crossbreeding Japanese dogs with dogs from China and Europe, with a heavier and different body form than the hunting dog."

 During the Meiji Period (1868-1912), the rapid acceptance of western culture was followed by a decline in interest in Japanese culture in Japan. Western dogs were favored, and soon fewer purer forms of Japanese dogs were seen in the cities, and purer forms were almost limited to small villages in remote mountain areas, where hunting was the main means of livelihood. During this time some concerned Japanese intellectuals among dog lovers began a movement to stem this trend, and to preserve Japanese dogs for future generations. Among individuals that were concerned with the decline of the Japanese dogs were Mr. Shigele Izumi, the mayor of Odate at that time, and Hirokichi (Kokichi, pen name: Hiroshi) Saito, a graduate of the Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku (Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music).  Hence, the Japanese government established the natural monument legislation in 1919.

 The Akita dog, the large Japanese dog, was in the greatest state of impurity when compared to medium and small Japanese dogs at this time. Many of the Akita dogs had been outcrossed to Western and Tosa fighting dogs. This occurred mostly during the earlier part of the twentieth century.

 The first survey team that went to Odate to study the Akita dog in 1920 was headed by Dr. Shozaburo Watase. He was very disappointed when he saw the great lack of uniformity in the Akita dogs there. Thus, he did not designate any Akita dogs that he saw at that time.

 Dog fighting was then popular in the Odate area, and: emphasis was on fighting ability of the dog rather than on appearance. Before leaving Odate, Dr. Watase called upon those who were seriously interested in the Akita dog to preserve these Japanese dogs before they became extinct.

 About twelve years went by before the Akita dog was declared as a natural monument in July 1931. This occurred after a visit to Odate by a second survey team headed by Dr. Tokio Kaburagi, when he saw the scarcity of these dogs.

 Japanese dogs then were known only by their regional names. In Akita, large dogs were called the Odate dog, Nambu dog, Kazuno dog, etc. The name Akita dog was first used in September 1931 to include all of the large Japanese dogs after the Akita dog was declared as a natural monument.

Hyoemon Kyono and Katsusuke Ishihara, based on their research, believed that the original pure type of Akita dog was probably the size of the "Matagi ("Hunting")" dogs that rarely exceeded 1 shaku 9 sun (approximately 58 cm, 22.6 inches) in height that lived in the mountain villages of Akita and Iwate.  Examples of such "Matagi" dogs were Oyajiro-go of Mr. Hyoemon Kyono, Fuji-go of Kesakichi Takahashi and Sentaro-aka of Keiji Takahashi. These were famous medium hunting dogs that were registered with Mippo in the early 1930s.

 Katsushiro Kudo of the Iwate University has stated that these "Matagi" dogs were slightly larger than the medium Japanese dogs. He named the "Matagi" dog from Iwate the Iwate dog, and placed the larger dogs from Akita into a separate category.

 Hirokichi Saito stated in 1953 that he believed that the Akita is a "non-fighting watch dog" created out of outcrossing medium Japanese dogs to imported western dogs and Tosa fighting dogs. This dog is then to be restored toward the Japanese dog type.

 According to Hiraizumi Ryonosuke and others, the goal of informed Japanese dog breeders is to increase the size of the Akita dog, while trying to retain the Japanese dog type.