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Dogs - Akita Breed
Between the court aristocrats, dogs were a favorite and favored gift. The Chinese sent many dogs to Japan. They varied from the little "Chin" lap dog so popular with the Japanese ladies and their Chinese counterparts to coursing hounds that worked with hunting hawks. Among pictures of dogs used by the Chinese for coursing are ones that look like a stockier, hairier Saluki than we have today. These dogs were undoubtedly introduced to China from the Middle East and Europe by caravan trade along the Silk Road. Although they assimilated many Chinese
ways into their culture, in a cycle repeated many times, the Japanese
gradually became more insular and underwent a period of isolation. By the
turn of the sixteenth century, the lucrative silk trade was carried out by
an intermediary with ocean-going ships. The Portuguese, through Jesuit
missionaries, had its sole custody, and through them, some European dogs
found their way to the Japanese Court. The end of the Portuguese stranglehold on commerce with Japan began when the crew of a Dutch East Indies shipwreck washed up on Japanese shores in 1615. With them was an English pilot, named William Adams, who caught the attention of the first Tokugawa Shogun, Ieyasu. Ieyasu made Adams a samurai, the only Westerner ever so honored, and called him Anjin (Pilot). Adams and his adventures were the model for James Clavel’s book and miniseries Shogun. Under Ieyasu Tokugawa, Japan shed its isolation for a while and opened its ports to foreign ships from other European countries. With these Westerners came even more foreign dogs (kari inu). Most of these were of a sight-hound type. Ieyasu is reported to have kept 60-70 of them to course deer. (Kuga, "JD," 56) The popularity of foreign dogs coupled with little interest in breeding might have spelled an end to the native dogs had Ieyasu’s descendants had the same interest in foreigners.
Part of this area is now known as Akita Prefecture, but during the 1800s, it was called Dewa, and the main city, Odate. Located far from the cities of the western plains, it was a mountainous, rugged, cold area. The large game of this area consisted of boar, elk, and the small Yezo bear, like this one. The dogs used for hunting in the north had long been known for their larger size. According to breed lore, a long-ago nobleman developed one strain of dog especially suited for this type of hunt. An excellent candidate for this legend was the scion of the Sanehide family who took refuge in the Akita area when the family fell out of favor with Ieyasu Tokugawa. Dewa was the perfect backwater for a Daimyo with little to do (Sanson, 415). His breeding efforts could well have been the beginning of the large Japanese hunting dog. In contrast to the rural areas, Japan’s densely populated cities commonly had dogs of mixed native and foreign stock. Except for the Japanese Chin, no one seems to have made any effort to develop or preserve breeds. Dog fights had been a favored sport of the samurai caste for centuries. While these dogs in earlier times would have had other jobs like hunting , with the changes brought about by Westernization, some dogs were dedicated to this sport. A favorite was the Tosa Fighting Dog, a crossbred from the native Tosa (Shikoku) Dog and various imported mastiff types. To increase size and fighting prowess,
the same kind of crosses went on in the north with the native dog of the
Dewa/Akita area. Breeds likely to have been used were Great Danes
(Deutsche Dogges) brought from home by German mining engineers. and
Tibetan Mastiffs brought with Mongolian traders. Of prime importance in this movement was Professor Shozaburo Watase who published an article about Japanese dogs in the Japanese magazine Inu (Dog) in 1915. He also began lecturing on them and chaired a historical preservation committee for the Ministry of Home Affairs. He and others wanted to preserve the native Japanese dogs and further knowledge about and interest in them. Professor Watase’s efforts came to fruition when, in July of 1931, the government of Japan declared the large dog of Japan a Natural Monument. It was named for the Akita Prefecture where it originated. Over the next six years, other breeds followed. In the medium-size category are: Kai
(Kai-Ken), the Kishu, the Shikoku, and the Hokkaido. The Shiba is the
small dog. The committee gained support from people all over Japan.
Very few could be found in urban areas. (Kuga, "JD," 5758) To help determine whether a dog truly represented the native type, NIPPO developed a written standard, first published in September, 1934. To generate it, committee members used writings about the dogs from previously published articles, outside opinions, judging at their early shows, studies of historical documents, observations of regional dogs, standards from Northern dogs in general as well as their own opinions. Among the outside sources is Siebold’s Fauna Japonica, a treatise on archeological remains. (Kuga, "JD," 72) Efforts began with the remnants of the large dog found in Akita Province, but the committee clearly had problems determining what the dog should be. For two centuries, the original hunting dog had been corrupted by cross-breeding to improve its prowess in the dog-fighting ring making the committee’s task of determining just what the "real” Akita dog should be much more difficult. All sorts of dogs had been crossed into the native dogs, including many European giant breeds, and Great Danes. Their influence undoubtedly was responsible for the renowned size of dogs from Odate, the main city of Akita Province. If the Akita area dogs were thought of as “large” the Odate dogs were referred to as "huge," and Odate was not the only area with "huge" dog. Fortunately, the matagi dogs of the rural
mountains provided a reservoir of stock used to begin restoration. (Hiraizumi)
Because they were a drain on a fragile
economy, police in Akita Prefecture received orders that all dog in the
towns and villages except the German Shepherds used by the military and
police were to be taken and clubbed to death. Dogs that survived were
either working with the police or hidden by their owners, an easier task
in the more rural areas.
The toll on all the dogs was enormous. By
the end of the war, the Akita was close to extinction. (Linderman, 17-18).
Dedicated efforts managed to keep the breed viable, and by 1948, a third
Akita organization, Akitainu Kyokai, (AKIKYO) had been formed. Each club,
NIPPO, AKIHO, and AKIKYO maintains its own registry, has its own breed
standard, and holds its own shows. Many dog were registered and shown in
more than one of these organizations. Others, however, accompanied their owners to these shores. Some of the dogs were kept as pets, some were given away or sold to others, and some were bred. Spurred by their common interest in the breed. various breed clubs formed. AKC accepted the new breed into Miscellaneous in 1956, but wrangling between groups of owners delayed full registration. In 1955 Mr. M.K. Spelmeyer founded the Akita Dog Association of America. Reacting to its closed membership, in 1956 eleven people who owned about 30 Akitas between them founded the Akita Kennel Club. They changed the name to the Akita Club of America and incorporated in California in 1960. The Akita Breeders Association formed
later, adding another club to the rolls. When they were enjoined from
using that name by the first club, who laid claim to it, the newly formed
group asked the first club to take them in, to which Mr. Spelmeyer agreed.
To add to the confusion, Charles Rubenstein formed yet another club in
1963, the American Akita Breeders, supported by some of the time's
well-known kennels.
Want great medicine for your dog's arthritis?
Akita Rescue of Western New York
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Your Dog Zone.com
China
fascinated the Japanese, who at first enthusiastically embraced Chinese
ways. They adopted Chinese writing and melded their native Shinto religion
with the Chinese form of Buddhism. They also imported the techniques for
planting and harvesting rice. 
However,
by 1635, the Japanese retreated again to a period of national
isolationism. In 1640, Ieyasu’s son and heir closed all of Japan except
the port at Yokohoma to foreigners except for trade with Mongolia, Korea,
and China. Japan’s isolation remained unbroken for two hundred years,
ending when U.S. Admiral Perry sailed into Tokyo Bay and declared it at an
end. His warship sitting in their harbor backed up his demands. 
Interest
in Akitas received quite a boost from publicity about the breed. First
came the tale of Hachi-Ko, which made the front page of the Tokyo papers
in 1932. Then came Helen Keller’s well-publicized visit to Japan. These
stories, especially Hachi-Ko’s, focused national attention on the value of
the native dogs. Fortunately, this attention coincided with the rising
spirit of nationalism; otherwise, the native dogs of Japan might have
disappeared altogether. 