Akita (dog)

The Akita (秋田犬, Akita-inu, Japanese pronunciation: [akʲita.inɯ]) is a large breed of dog originating from the mountainous regions of northern Japan. There are two separate varieties of Akita: a Japanese strain, commonly called Akita Inu (inu means dog in Japanese) or Japanese Akita, and an American strain, known as the Akita or American Akita.[2] The Japanese strain comes in a narrow palette of colors, with all other colors considered atypical of the breed, while the American strain comes in all dog colors.[3] The Akita has a short double-coat similar to that of many other northern spitz breeds such as the Siberian Husky, but long-coated dogs can also be found in many litters due to a recessive gene.

The Akita is a powerful, independent and dominant breed, commonly aloof with strangers but affectionate with family members. As a breed, Akitas are generally hardy.

In all countries except the United States, the Japanese and American strains of Akita are considered two separate breeds. In the United States, however, the two strains are considered a single breed with differences in type. For a while, the American strain of Akita was known in some countries as the Great Japanese Dog. Both forms of Akita are probably best known worldwide from the true story of Hachikō, a loyal Akita who lived in Japan before World War II.

Breed name

There is a debate among fanciers whether there are two separate breeds of Akita. As of 2020, the American Kennel Club,[4] now consider American and Japanese Akitas to be two separate breeds, no longer allowing free breeding between the two. The United Kennel Club,[5] The Federation Cynologique Internationale,[6] The Kennel Club,[7][8] the Australian National Kennel Council,[9] the New Zealand Kennel Club,[10][11] and the Japan Kennel Club[12] consider Japanese and American Akitas as separate breeds.[13] Some countries refer to the American Akita as simply the Akita and not the American Akita. The issue is especially controversial in Japan.[14] For the FCI's 84 countries, the breed split formally occurred June 1999, when the FCI decided that the American type would be called the Great Japanese Dog,[13] later renamed the American Akita in January 2006.[13]

History

Japanese history

The dog breed, Akita, originated in the snowy and rural lands of Odate, Akita Prefecture, a mountainous region of Japan. They were trained to hunt animals such as elk, wild boar, and Ussuri brown bears.[15] This breed in the 1600s was involved in dog fighting, which at the time was popular in Japan. From the 1500s into the 1800s, the Akita served as companions for samurai.[16]

During the early 20th century the Akita was in decline, as a result of being cross-bred with the German Shepherd Dog, St. Bernard, Mastiff. As a result, a lot of specimens started to lose their spitz characteristics and instead took on drop ears, straight tails, non-Japanese color (black masks, and any color other than red, white or brindle), and loose skin. A native Japanese breed known as Matagi (hunting dog) was used along with the Hokkaido Inu breed to mix back into the remaining Akita Inu to bring back the spitz phenotype and restore the Akita breed. The modern-day Japanese Akita have relatively few genes from western dogs and are spitz in phenotype after the reconstruction of the breed took place, however, the larger American breed of Akita largely descends from the mixed Akita before the restoration of the breed, and thus American Akita are typically mixed and not considered true Akita by the Japanese standard.[17]

The Akita were used during the Russo-Japanese War to track prisoners of war and lost sailors.[18] During World War II the Akita was also crossed with German Shepherds in an attempt to save them from the wartime government order for all non-military dogs to be culled.[19] Some were used as scouts and guards during the war.[18] The ancestors of the American Akita were originally a variety of the Japanese Akita, a form that was not desired in Japan due to the markings, and which is not eligible for show competition.[13]

Faithful dog Hachikō was a dog who became legendary in Japan, after waiting every day for his master at Shibuya Station in central Tokyo.

The story of Hachikō, the most revered Akita of all time, helped push the Akita into the international dog world. Hachikō was born in 1923 and owned by Professor Hidesaburō Ueno of Tokyo.[20] Professor Ueno lived near the Shibuya Train Station in a suburb of the city and commuted to work every day on the train.[21] Hachikō accompanied his master to and from the station each day.[21] On May 25, 1925, when the dog was 18 months old, he waited for his master's arrival on the four o'clock train, but Professor Ueno had had a fatal brain haemorrhage at work.[21] Hachikō continued to wait for his master's return.[21] He travelled to and from the station each day for the next nine years.[21] He allowed the professor's relatives to care for him, but he never gave up the vigil at the station for his master.[21] His vigil became world-renowned when, in 1934,[22] shortly before his death, a bronze statue was erected at the Shibuya train station in his honor.[21] This statue was melted down for munitions during the war, but a new one was commissioned after the war.[22] Each year on April 8 since 1936, Hachikō's devotion has been honoured with a solemn ceremony of remembrance at Tokyo's Shibuya railroad station.[23][24] Eventually, Hachikō's legendary faithfulness became a national symbol of loyalty, particularly to the person and institution of the Emperor.[25]

In 1931, the Akita has officially declared a Japanese Natural Monument. The Mayor of Odate City in Akita Prefecture organized the Akita Inu Hozonkai to preserve the original Akita as a Japanese natural treasure through careful breeding.[21] In 1934 the first Japanese breed standard for the Akita Inu was listed, following the breed's declaration as a natural monument of Japan.[26] In 1967, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Akita Dog Preservation Society, the Akita Dog Museum was built to house information, documents and photos.[21] There is a tradition in Japan, that when a child is born they receive a statue of an Akita. This statue symbolizes health, happiness, and a long life.[27]

The Akita "Tachibana",[16] one of the few Akitas to survive the war, pictured here on a Japanese 1953 issue postage stamp.

In 1937, Helen Keller travelled to Japan. She expressed a keen interest in the breed and was presented with the first two Akitas to enter the US.[28] The first dog, presented to her by Mr. Ogasawara and named Kamikaze-go, died at 7+1⁄2 months of age from distemper, one month after her return to the States. A second Akita was arranged to be sent to Miss Keller: Kamikaze's litter brother, Kenzan-go.[29] Kenzan-go died in the mid-1940s.[30] By 1939 a breed standard had been established and dog shows had been held, but such activities stopped after World War II began.[citation needed] Keller wrote in the Akita Journal:

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.[31][32]

Just as the breed was stabilizing in its native land, World War II pushed the Akita to the brink of extinction. Early in the war the dogs had a lack of nutritious food. Then many were killed to be eaten by the starving populace, and their pelts were used as clothing. Finally, the government ordered all remaining dogs to be killed on sight to prevent the spread of disease. The only way concerned owners could save their beloved Akitas was to turn them loose in remote mountain areas, where they bred back with their ancestor dogs, the Matagi,[19] or conceal them from authorities by means of crossing with German Shepherds and naming them in the style of German Shepherds of the time.[19] Morie Sawataishi and his efforts to breed the Akita is a major reason this breed exists today.[33]

During the occupation years following the war, the breed began to thrive again through the efforts of Sawataishi and others.[16] For the first time, Akitas were bred for a standardized appearance.[34] Akita fanciers in Japan began gathering and exhibiting the remaining Akitas and producing litters in order to restore the breed to sustainable numbers and to accentuate the original characteristics of the breed muddied by crosses to other breeds.[35] U.S. servicemen fell in love with the Akita and imported many with them upon their return.[36]