What are the Dog Breeds of Japan

If you are here, it is because you are wondering which are the most representative dog breeds in Japan. And well, to begin with I would like to tell you a little about the history of dogs in Japan because it is obviously necessary to understand their relationship with human beings. As in many ancient societies, the history of dogs or of this relationship between canines and human beings, time is lost between myth and reality. It is known that already in the Jyomon period, that is, about ten thousand years ago, there was already an active relationship between dogs and humans. Most of the dog breeds in Japan until before the year 1000 were very close to their non-domesticated relatives, we are talking about wolves, wild dogs and other types of canines of the style and still many of these breeds maintain their closeness to these non-domesticated animals. domesticated.

Japanese society has always held dogs in high esteem, they helped in the house, in the protection of goods and people and even served as companion animals as pets. They also exist in mythology as magical beings and deities that are related to dogs, even during the Edo period the 5th Shogun who was Tokugawa Tsuneyoshi was a fervent follower of Buddhism so he wanted to protect all animals in particular in an extreme way. . He enforced various laws to protect dogs and gave them many rights even earning him the derisive nickname in society of “Inu-shogun” which means “Dog Shogun”.

Within the breeds of dogs originating in Japan, there are some that are very popular abroad, such as the ‘akita’ dog with famous stories such as that of Hachiko, immortalized in a statue at Shibuya station, he is very famous for being very loyal to the point that he waited for his owner at the station when he went to work together they returned home, one day the owner could not return because he died unexpectedly, Hachiko returned every day to the Shibuya station waiting for his owner until the day of his death. This did not go unnoticed by the people and staff of the station and became news and a national hero, the Akita was named a national treasure of Japan.

Another very popular breed is the ‘shiba’ immortalized even in souvenir toys and anime, it is considered one of the oldest breeds in the world, imagine, very close genetically to the wild dogs of southern China. They are very independent and have a very strong will, so they are not usually very easy to train correctly, they are usually very discreet to bark, they will also only do it to alarm something that they consider dangerous, so they are very good guard dogs.

There are also other breeds very close to their non-domesticated relatives that are not as popular outside of Japan but are popular in Japan such as the ‘kai-ken’, the ‘shikoku-inu’, the ‘hokkaido-inu’ and the ‘kishu-ken’, the latter being the very particular kishu-ken since the breed has not changed in thousands of years and its fur, which is normally white, was considered a good omen, good luck. In general these breeds tend to be very independent, medium to large in size and very apt to hunt as their non-domesticated ancestors probably were.

A breed that is relatively different from these previous ones is the ‘Japanese Chin’ that arrived in Japan more than a thousand years ago from China or Korea, its appearance may remind a Spaniard or a Pekingese and it is believed that it came to Japan as a gift from the emperor from China or Korea to the Japanese nobility, and despite the fact that it is a small dog, it is very calm and feels confident even in new situations, unlike for example the chihuahua dog, to the point that it is frequently used as a therapy dog, many people often say that they behave like a cat since they like to always be close to the human being’s lap, rest in high places, in addition to having a very good balance and can balance themselves very well, they also like to wash their faces with their paws front and hide in unexpected places.

Some breeds are much more recent, as is the case, for example, of the ‘Japanese Spitz’, the ‘Tosa Inu’ and the ‘Japanese Terrier’, which therefore arrived from their respective countries in the last 200 years, most of the characteristics of these dogs they are very similar to their ancestors despite having already been slightly changed in Japan.

Probably the ‘shiba inu’ is currently the most representative of Japan since it is one of the breeds originating in Japan and in addition to everything as it is smaller compared to others it is easier to give it a room in small spaces even in large cities in Japan because it can be in an apartment or in small houses and its tendency to be quieter compared to other breeds is good because it does not bother the neighbors.

Did you already know these breeds? Would you like to adopt one or get to know them better? Tell us in the comments!