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"A CANDID DISCUSSION ON JAPANESE DOGS"
Kokichi (Hirokichi) Saito, Katsuro Matsumoto, Yoshio Baba, Yonekichi Hiraiwa, Tokuzo Beppu, Kenichi Majima, Yuichi Okamura, Shigeharu Hashimoto, Shigeru Nagashima, Kikuaki Takane, Nobuo Matsuura, Tsunazo Wachigai, Osao Shitara, Kikumatsu Ogawa, Jiro Ito and Shiba Kato. (Listed in same order as in the Japanese version.)
SAITO: I was asked to chair and welcome all of you to this meeting today. Mr. Matsumoto happened to be here in Tokyo on business, and I took this opportunity on short notice to ask for his opinions on- Japanese dogs. Mr. Shinryu Ofuchi sends us his regrets for not being able to be with us. I had Mr. Matsumoto look around Koufu and Nagano for any small Japanese dogs, and I want to thank him for his willingness to do so for me.
Much of the studies on Japanese dog have been on medium dogs, and since Mr. Matsumoto's has done this, we will begin our discussion on medium dogs followed by the large dog and then to the small dog, and conclude with a general discussion on dogs.
(Note: Only the discussion pertaining to the large dog, Akita, is presented here)
THE QUESTION ON THE LARGE DOG
SAITO:
Let us now talk about the large dog. Mr. Matsumoto has written to me frequently to say that the large dog is not a Japanese dog. (page 52) The Akita dog is a so-called new Japanese dog-that was created by the Japanese, as it was with the Tosa fighting dog. These dogs did not come from ancient times or several hundred years ago. Newer dog fans believe that perhaps these were postwar dogs with only a small percentage of Japanese dog blood in them. I believe that is not an entirely wrong assumption. Man has created pet dogs suitable for his purpose. Thus one should strive to create a good dog since no old bloodlines or a history of thousands of years are involved.
On Saturday, when I attended the regular meeting of the Anthropological Society of Tokyo University, I met Professor Kotondo Hasebe. He stated that the Akita dog came from the Siberian Dog and is not a Japanese dog. I disagreed and told him that the Akita dog was not standardized with the Siberian dog. For example, the Akita dog of today has the German Shepherd and Great Dane as well as possibly other bloodlines. The professor replied that would not be an issue from a scientific standpoint and that he still believed that the Akita dog came from Siberia.
In 1927 (2nd year of Showa) when I discussed the history of the Akita dog with Mr. Shigeie Izumi on how far we should go back, Mr. Izumi said to me, "How about going back to the time of Sadato of Abe (1019-1062) and Muneto (younger brother of Sadato) and say that these dogs were raised then." Mr. Izumi wrote this in the Hokuroku Shinbun (Hokuroku News) of which he was editor. However, since he was unable to obtain any details that went back to Sadato of Abe, he decided to go back to the Keicho Period (1596-1614) when Satake established a branch family in Odate and built a castle. He surmised that dog fighting was started about this time and that the dogs began to gradually increase in size. The people in Odate believe that Akita dog had its beginning during the Keicho Period. No such record of the Akita dog from the Keicho Period exists, nor the records of fighting dogs or of raising dogs During the Keicho Period, Satake (Yoshinobu) was transferred to Akita and a castle was built in Odate. Samurais were probably there. If this were true, the young samurais probably engaged in dogfighting. If this were true, descendants of these dogs were probably Akita dogs. These are based solely on hypothesis. Fighting dog history from Odate is not available.
Perhaps the oldest history of dog fighting could have happened near the end of the Tokugawa Period (around 1867). Samurais in disguise are said to have gathered at the dry riverbed at night to engage in dog fighting. Such legends from the end of the Tokugawa Period remain with no evidences to support it. If such dog fighting stories are true, bloodlines of that period were probably of the matagi line. Dog fighting began after the Meiji Restoration (of 1869). In these villages, wealthy influential families had many young people with dogs. This was apt to give rise to rivalries between villages to see who had the best fighting dog. On a set date, dogs were gathered at the village center to be engaged in dog fighting. The dog that yelped or retreated with its tall under between its legs was the loser. Strong rivalries between village influentials during the Meiji Period (1868-1912) produced ever more powerful fighting, dogs. Size became important, followed by strength and biting power. My opinion is that the large dog of the Karafuto line was brought in from Karafuto by fishermen who worked away from our hometown. My home is in Yamagata (a prefecture south of Akita) near the Japan Sea. Inevitably, dog lovers must have brought dogs from Karafuto. When I was a child I saw Karafuto dogs. Their black coat had a reddish tinge. The coat was long with standing ears. They were large powerful dogs. I believe that such large dogs were also easily outcrossed to other dogs in the Odate area.
MATSUMOTO:
Were the ear tips drooping?
SAITO:
They were standing. Dogs were brought from Karafuto and the Maritime .Provinces. They were undoubtedly outcrossed. Also, stories of outcrossing to large dogs brought to the copper mine in Kosaka by a German engineer around 1897 (30th year of Meiji) have also been circulated. After the Akita dog was declared as a natural monument, I went to Odate around 1932 (7th year of Showa). Mr. Yaichiro Tayama, who was a dog dealer in the Odate area, gathered for my benefit four or five elderly gentlemen in their seventies for a discussion. According to them, a large dog came to the Kosaka copper mine and was outcrossed to local dogs. Later, when Mr. Kuniro Ichinoseki became a home owner in Tokyo, I became acquainted with him and discussed this very topic with him. Mr. Ichinoseki confided in me that he had a photograph of a dog that was a result of breeding his bitch to a dog belonging to a foreigner at the Kosaka copper mine. I saw this photograph. Although the dog's ears are standing, the face had many wrinkles and the muscles around, the throat were loose. The tail was curled. However, the coat was short. The dog was large. Recently, the people in Odate denied this in a symposium in Odate that was published in the Aiken No Tomo magazine. The people in Odate have no knowledge of this matter, but I had the photograph.
ITO:
After that a dispute arose on the desirability or undesirability of the boxy face. I have seen many such dogs that were from the second to third generations. They were 2 shaku (60.6 cm, 23.9 inches) or less.
SAITO:
According to the seniors from Qdate, the most famous dog was called Moku of Nakanotera. The height of this dog at the shoulders was about 3 shaku (90.9 cm, 35.8 inches). He carried a child (or children) on his back. (page 53) Dogs are not able to carry much on their backs, but are able to pull and walk rapidly with a child on their backs. Anyone sitting in the house can feel the shaking due to their feet. (laughter)
ITO:
That story is not true.
SAITO:
They claim that the dog was at least 2 shaku 5 sun (75.8 cm, 29.8 inches). He was smoking when I asked about coat length. He told me coat length was about the length of his tobacco pipe. Since the term moku originally meant a long coat, the dog undoubtedly had a long coat. This is the legendary dog from the past. A dog by the name of Saku of Daishoji, a powerful pinto fighting dog is mentioned later. From this time on, stories of famous dogs are clearer. Even in Odate, fighting dog history is clearer after 1897 (30th year of Meiji). From the end of the Taisho Period (1912-1926) until the beginning of the Showa Period (1926-1989). dogs with standing ears were almost not seen at the fighting dog arena of the Odate's Aiken Kyokai (Dog Club). Therefore, around 1926 (the end of the Taisho Period), Mr. Shigeie Izumi introduced a photograph of his then dead Toichi-go as the real Akita dog. The highly respected Mr. Eisuke Ito, who managed Mr. Izumi's kennel, stated that at that time Toichi-go was the only true Akita dog with standing ears. Other Akita dogs withstanding ears were Babagoma of Mr. Ichinoseki. Just prior to Babagoma, Shinkichi Echizen found a few dogs of that type. Therefore, when I was in the process of establishing Nippo to preserve Japanese dogs, I scoured the Tokyo area for Japanese dogs. As Mr. Ito has mentioned, these dogs had square muzzles with flat-crowned heads, wrinkled faces and loose muscles around the throat area. Such a dog was Han of Kamimonya, a very large dog that belonged to a Mr. Nobuta from Ikejiri in Setagaya (in Tokyo). At that time, this dog was said to be 2 shaku 2 sun (66.7 cm, 26.2 inches) tall and weighed 14 kan( 8.3 x 14 = 116 Ibs.). Another dog that was almost as large called Saku belonged to Mr. Jun Yazaki of the town of Shigehara in the prefecture of Chiba. I also saw dogs that were almost of the same type and very large size that were being raised by Mr. Rentaro Mizuno. One of these dogs went to the home of a Diet member. When I Inquired about this bloodline, I was told that during the Peace Exposition, this dog won the silver medal when a member of the Diet by the name of Narita from the town of Takanosu in Akita claimed that this to be the best dog from Akita. Dogs of this bloodline all had wrinkles with very large loose bodies. When I wrote the Japanese dog standard for Nippo, I asked myself are these truly Japanese dogs with the droopy lips, loose muscles around the throat and overly large and loose bodies. I felt that these features should be excluded and wrote the standard accordingly. At that time, three types of large dogs were seen in Odate. The first type had loose appealing bodies but were not too large. Their ears were not standing well. Their height ranged from 1shaku 9 sun (57.6 cm, 22.7 inches) to about 2-shaku (60.6 cm, 23.9 Inches). This type of dog was most numerous. The second type had no droopy Iips or loose skin around the throat. The ears were small and standing. The neck was thick. I felt that a dog with a neck that seem to jump out of the trunk was desirable. That is, the trunk and the neck should appear to be of the same thickness. This is one of the types of fighting dogs from Odate that go back to olden days. Many of these dogs had survived. The first Tochi-go came from that bloodline. The third type had droopy ears, and the true fighting dogs called the Tosa Akita or the people there called them the Shin Akita (New Akita). In 1927 (16th year of Taisho), Mr. Shozaburo Watase went to Odate as an examiner, under the auspices of the Ministry of Home Affairs, which had jurisdiction over the, natural monuments at that time. Mr. Hisakichi Kishida, who was the teacher of natural history at the Odate Middle School was a former pupil of Mr. Watase. He gathered eighteen representative types of dogs in front of the local Shinto temple. I have, a photograph of that occasion. Only one dog has ears that are questionably standing. The rest of the dogs have droopy ears. Saying that these dogs are nothing to get excited about as natural monuments, Mr. Watase returned to Tokyo. Dogs in Odate during that period were mostly of that type. Around 1927 or 1928 there was Mr. Ichinoseki's Babagoma with the mastiff in her bloodline with the large loose appearance in the body. Then Mr. Shigeie Izumi's bitch called Aka and her son. A bitch called Akiba that was raised by Mr. Shinkichi Maki came later. An excellent dog with standing ears that Mr. Shinkichi Echizen sold to someone. Also my first Dewa. Aikoku, the dog sold by Mr. Echizen. These were about the only dogs from the Odate area that had standing ears. Although Mr. Izumi's bitch did produce puppies, more than half of the litter did not have standing ears. When I asked Mr. Yaichiro Tayama how can one produce dogs with standing ears, he stated that dogs with standing ears are weak and useless. Mr. Tayama did not become involved with Akita dogs until much later, because he was initially involved professionally with fighting dogs. After the Akita dog was declared as a natural monument, incoming orders began to demand more dogs with standing ears and the fighting dog organizations went into a decline. Fighting dog dealers began to purchase dogs with standing ears. Even Mr. Tayama had to turn around and become involved with dogs with standing ears, To this day Odate's Token Kyokai (Fighting Dog Society) remains inactive. At that time, I advised Mr. Tayama to breed to the matagi dog. Mr. Shigeie Izumi's caretaker for his dogs is Mr. Eisuke Ito and Mr. Tayama's dog caretaker is Mr. Takichi Takahashi. Therefore, Mr. Tayama sent Mr. Takahashi into the mountains of the Ani, area to find matagi dogs that were around 1 shaku 8 sun 5 bu (56.1 cm, 22.1 inches).. These matagi dogs were excellent, and breeding to dogs with droopy ears from Odate resulted in puppies with standing ears. However, none of these dogs could attain the height of 2 shaku (60.6 cm, 23.9 inches). By careful outcrossings and maintaining the standing ears and by increasing the size gradually toward the Akita dog that is closer to our standard, one was able to produce Kurotora, meaning black brindled that was brought over by Mr. Yozaburo Ito. When we held a headquarters show at the Hall of Industry located on the edge of the Ueno Pond, this dog was blackish, but upon closer examination, he was a brindle and we were happily surprised to see that we were making progress. Dogs of poor quality were heavily penalized. (page 54) While the good and bad dogs were being clearly delineated, the Second World War devastated the Akita dog in one great blow. A Mr.Takeo Sato produced a dog called Mutsu, but I am not familiar with the dog's pedigree. One is able to produce the Akita dog by outcrossing with the Great Dane. I believe that any dog breed can be used to create the Akita dog. I believe that the original seed of the Akita dog does not exist. I believe that the Akita dog is a new breed and this does not bother me. However, what was built up was lost during the war. The Akita dog of today was built after the war. A postwar creation. (Laughter) A new breed created by the Japanese. With this in mind, I am hoping that a good Akita dog can be created. I would like to state that the story about the Akita dog being a pure Japanese dog that goes back several thousand years in history is absurd. I shall say this for sure.
MATSUMOTO:
I did not like the large type. I would say that the Japanese dog world is now in a crisis. The large type has dominated all of the dog shows and winning at Nippo. Many medium dogs fans have been involved with these dogs for many years and have a deep knowledge of Japanese dogs. Due to the numerical superiority of the large type when the large dogs are most of the winners, resentment builds up among the medium and small dog owners, especially among those from the western part of our country.
SAITO:
I wanted to tell the rest of dog world that many of the medium dogs have the desirable features of the Japanese dog with fewer faults at the International dog show that was sponsored by the Aiken No Tomo publisher. The winning dog of the large type has faults. Some of the judges seem to be dazzled by the largeness of the dog. I believe this is where errors in Judging tend to creep in.
OGAWA:
One could be awed by the popularity of the large dog and this is also is a matter of supply and demand, which is unavoidable. (Laughter)
MATSUMOTO:
However, Mr. Ogawa, wouldn't you say that one should obtain good dogs to advertise to sell them? Although one can fool the foreigners for a while, dogs that the Japanese do not want may eventually be rejected by foreigners also.
OGAWA:
I agree. The popularity of the large dog is a good thing. but one should emphasize other characteristics of the large dog besides soboku (simplicity, pristine) and jukomi (composure and dignity) Otherwise, I am afraid that the present popularity may not continue.
MATSUMOTO:
Continuing what we are doing now may not be adequate.
OGAWA:
For the family dogs, I have stressed good training and limitations on coat colors.
SAITO:
Mr. Ogawa, why not use the large dog standard and try to create a uniform type of dog that you have mentioned from the postwar dogs as the foundation? The Doberman and the German Shepherd also have a short history of only a few decades. Since these dogs are to be created by man, it wouldn't matter.
GRADING EACH TYPE ACCORDING TO USE
BABA:
At the Nippo's Kanagawa Branch Show in Kanagawa, the new plan is to judge the large, medium and small dogs separately. We do not know how this new arrangement will be received. The separate awarding of prizes was decided at the committee meeting. This new arrangement may add to the progress of dogs in the different size categories.
SAITO:
That is an excellent Idea since the large type is not a medium dog that became larger. They are not of the same breeds.
NAGASHIMA:
Nippo is also moving toward that direction at the headquarters shows. At the last Spring show, dogs in each size category were awarded prizes separately. Then the best in show was determined from the three categories that had been determined earlier. The real judging ended with the former. The latter judging was a mere formality of the old system. I believe that the present trend is to gradually separate the large, medium and small types.
SAITO:
If you would review the records when I was involved with Nippo, an Akita dog of a different type never won the Monbu Daijinsho (The Minister of Education Award) which was the highest award.
BEPPU:
The Best-In-Show Award should be eliminated.
MAJIMA:
At Nippo the Akita dog is judged in the large dog category. However, if the Akita dog is to be judged as a natural monument, the term Akita dog should be used instead of the term the large dog. Since we have not done much studies on the Akita dog, we should retain the term, the large dog.
A DEFINITION FOR THE NATURAL MONUMENT
SAITO:
One must distinguish the dog designated as a natural monument that is to be preserved the primitive type of dog based on scientific studies on the one hand, and the dog as an excellent show dog on the other hand. They are different. Therefore, at the first Nippo show that was held as the Matsuya in Ginza, Mr. Izumi's Kin was shown. This was the only dog at that time that was designated as a natural monument. The Akita dog was the only Japanese dog that was designated as a natural monument at that time. At that time Kin was the only dog so designated as a natural monument. Mr. Izumi, who was one of the judges, insisted that Kin be awarded the Monbu Daijinsho (The Minister of Education Award) because it was the only dog that was designated as a natural monument. I disagreed. We had decided on a policy at Nippo to separate the judging of the dog as a natural monument and as a show dog at Nippo. Mr. Kaburagi, often stated that "We are doing it from a scientific standpoint and you are doing it from a standpoint of dog lovers." Assuming that because a dog was designated as a natural monument, the dog must be excellent and awarding the top award at a Nippo show is absurd. Therefore, we decided on the policy of total separation between the two categories. Thus, at the first show, Mr. Nakagami's dog from Hokkaido called Goro won first place and also the Monbu Daijin Award. Mr. Kaburagi used his opinion based on his studies to determine the dogs slated to be natural monuments, and Nippo used a category unrelated to the natural monuments to pick out better dogs. Therefore, when I established the Japanese dog standard, I did not base it on the natural monument. However, after my withdrawal from Nippo and when Mr. Kaburagi became the chairman of Nippo after the war, he decided to declare the excellent dogs as judged by Nippo to be designated as natural monuments. This may have been a political maneuver to expand Nippo. I do not recall writing a standard for the natural monument. The standard for the natural monument should be written separately by the Ministry of Education based on -scientific studies. The natural monument is the old type that came from the past and should be saved and is not related to the good or bad qualities of the dog. I wrote the Nippo standard based on the motive of taking the surviving dogs as basic material to be bred toward the excellent Japanese dogs, which should be judged by the Nippo standard. Based on the opinion of what an excellent dog should be, the designation of these dogs as natural monument by Mr. Kaburagi could mean that since the scientific findings on the natural monument are still scanty, this could mean that he had bowed from the level of natural monument to that of the Nippo standard.
MATSUMOTO:
A task unfinished, wouldn't you say?
SAITO:
A separate standard for the natural monument should be written that is separate from the standard for the domesticated dog. From the beginning, Nippo has had no direct relationship with the natural monument. I have said this repeatedly. Otherwise, the purpose of the Japanese dog from a scientific standpoint would not be possible.
ITO:
I agree. A natural monument, for example, is an ancient painting of Japan. Among our contemporaries, the paintings of Taikan Yokoyama (1868-1958, known for his Japanese-style painting. Ref.: Munsterberg, Hugo, The Arts of Japan. pp,176-177 1957, Tuttle.) must be included. From the past, this means that the paintings of Motonobu Kano (1476-1559) must also be Included.
SAITO:
If the long coat dog is representative of the dogs from Akita, the long coat dogs should be designated as natural monuments. Many pinto dogs are seen in the picture scrolls from the Late Kamakura Period (1185-1333). This goes back several hundred years in history. That means, one must designate pintos as natural monuments. Otherwise there would be no significance. My reason for excluding pinto in the Nippo standard was to steadily improve the domesticated dog. Domesticated dogs must meet man's daily needs and develop with the times.
MATSUURA:
Would you say then that the term excellent Japanese dogs is used today instead of the term natural monuments?
MAJIMA:
The term natural monuments applies only to the Akita dog, not to the large dog. The names Akita dog, Shiba dog have no relationship with Nippo whatsoever.
NAGASHIMA:
Wouldn't you say that these are topics to be studied In the future?
SAITO:
The question is whether the organization is to preserve the old type of dog or an organization to breed dogs. I have devoted more than a decade to breed the Japanese dog as a domesticated dog. When I retired from Nippo, the number of Japanese dogs had increased to about 20,000. Thus, I wanted to pause from this project of preservation. Please strive to produce excellent dogs. If I am unable to do so please take over and continue. I beg of you. I have clearly stated that preservation was the first stage of my work. When the question on the natural monument was raised, Mr. Kyono (Hyoemon) wrote an article entitled, "On The Designation of Japanese Dogs As Natural Monuments" in the August 1940 issue of the Nippo Bulletin. In this article he starts out apologetically, "Many regard the natural monument as some divine message to be idolized." Then he continues later, "Japanese dogs are not inanimate objects, prehistoric relics, deteriorated articles or undomesticated animals. They are to be improved from day to day and is not related to Nippo's course for the breeding of Japanese dogs." He is pointing out that the breeding of Japanese dogs at Nippo is unrelated to the natural monuments. This was ghost written by Mr. Tanigawa, the director of Nippo. However, recently, in a discussion article, in the September issue of the Aiken No Tomo magazine, Mr. Kyono has stated that her believes that dogs qualified as foundation dogs are worthy to be designated as natural monuments. I believe this to be a gross error. If one wants to designate such domesticated Japanese dogs as natural monuments, it would result in the inability to recover any dogs above the small type. The natural monument and the Japanese dogs of the future are entirely separate matters. No where in this world have I seen any examples of restoring excellent dogs to the old type.
IMPROVEMENTS ON THE LARGE TYPE
OGAWA:
Although we have received some advice on improving the small and medium dogs, what is your advice on improving the large dog?
SAITO:
One can do anything with the large dog, similar to the amezaiku (wheat gluten figure). You can create a standard to lower the ears, increase the size or do whatever you want to do. Since this is a new breed, bloodlines have not been firmly established. Out of the varieties seen in a given litter, one can move in any direction.
MATSUMOTO:
When the large dog is greatly publicized as the national treasure dog, the-public will believe that these are excellent dogs. Instead of making a great fanfare about the natural monument or the so-called national treasure dogs, even by using medium dogs with some hesitation, I believe that it would be better to state clearly that we are working toward creating the ideal large dog.
SAITO:
However, we must not allow the dog to become too large because many unavoidable faults will surface.
MATSUMOTO:
Such as dewlaps and forehead wrinkles. By eliminating such faults, even medium dogs fans will be impressed with excellent large dogs we can be proud of.
MATSUURA:
Wouldn't you say that some excellent large dogs have been produced?
SAITO:
When dogs become as large as 2 shaku 5 sun (approximately 75.6 cm, 29.8 Inches) or 2 shaku 6 sun (78.8 cm, 31 Inches), this becomes impossible.
MATSUMOTO:
One can be fooled at times.
NAGASHIMA:
Since the Akita dog standard involves an important period where a new dog breed is evolving, are you saying that one should call for a nationwide attention to body measurements and create an original standard for the Akita dog?
MATSUMOTO:
That is true. The present standard is not satisfactory. We must find a better standard based on research. Some of the dogs of today may appear satisfactory to some and may believe that such a dog is champion material.
NAGASHIMA:
What are some of the faults seen in the Japanese dogs of today?
SAITO:
I thought of sending to the United Kingdom and the United States a photograph of Akita dogs of today. However, I also wanted to point out the faults in these dogs.
NAGASHZMA:
What is the most common fault?
SAITO:
Lack of uniformity.
MATSUMOTO:
Loose muzzles that seem as if the dog is ready to drool. The dog needs to appear more neat. Another problem is the dewlap. The rear trunk is droopy. This can be attributed to the Mikawa dog in the bloodline.
SAITO:
I disagree. All of the large dogs have faults in the rear trunk. This Is also true with horses and cattle in Japan.
MATSUMOTO:
Therefore, the front and back trunks are not coordinated when the animal walks.
SAITO:
That is true.
NAGASHIMA:
I agree.
HIRAIWA:
Severe sagging back.
MATSUMOTO:
The ears are also terrible.
SAITO:
One must correct these. .Let us now talk about the dog world in general before closing. Each dog breed should become independently organized and conduct their own breeding programs, the Akita dog for the Akita dog, the medium dog for the boar hunting dog and the Shiba dog for the Shiba dog. (page 60) A large membership under one organization and dividing into the large, medium, and small dogs may not be a good idea. For example, the Shiba dog should be under the Shiba dog organization with their own dog show, with only Shiba dogs contending for the top prize. Discussions and research should be carried on only by Shiba dog fans in order to produce some excellent Shiba dogs. Unless one follows a single dog breed formula, true progress will not be made. What do you think of using this as a policy in the Japanese dog world? Under the present system of a large number of dogs and large membership, one could end up losing to members with the largest number of a certain type of dog. I believe that such a large organization can hinder the progress of Japanese dogs.
MATSUMOTO:
At Nippo, if more large dogs are shown, the tendency would be for the large dog to be put into first place, while the medium dog may be dropped into second place.
SAITO:
Instead of going solely on the qualities of a dog, because liberal factions are more numerous, giving them the awards is not a good policy. Increasing memberships may be a good idea, but this alone may not be a good policy for the dog in the long run. Mr. Hiraiwa is a Japanese dog judge from the very earlier days and knows much about dogs but ha. not said much so far. Let us now hear from Mr. Hiraiwa about our discussion today.
MAJIMA:
Mr. Hiraiwa, please be frank.
HIRAIWA:
Questions have been raised on the large dog, which is beginning to resemble a pig. As for the small dog, as Mr. Matsumoto has stated, they are becoming more like bound foot (tensoku) female and Terrier in appearance. However, I believe that the true crisis in Japanese dogs has been brought on by Mr. Saito who has not continued his interest as the foremost pioneer of the Japanese dog movement. I believe that unless we have Mr. Saito continue in the revival of the small dog, the Japanese dog may be lost.
SAITO:
Thank you very much for those kind remarks. However, for fifteen years, I was fully absorbed in the studies of Japanese dogs because much had to be learned to tell others. If I could earn a living at the same time, I will be happy to continue. However, I am having some difficulties earning a living. Although, I feel a great responsibility, I am unable to assume it. In my recent project on writing an Akita dog standard for the Nihoninu Kenkyukai (Japanese Dog Research Society), I studied the more recent standards in English of various dog breeds and this has taken me about two months. During that period, I did not engage in any other work. Since July, almost all of my work has involved serving the various animal organizations daily. For this purpose, I have people working full time only in work related to animals in English, since January. If I am still able to make a living without hardships on my family, I will give it another try.
MATSUMOTO:
More must be done. I had some plans, but it was not the right time. Mr. Saito's greatest accomplishment while he was at Nippo, I believe, was the Introduction of Japanese dogs to the world. He was often heavily criticized. Whenever he opposed those who were taking the wrong routes on Japanese dogs that came to his attention, he took the resentments personally. With that in mind, I would ask Mr. Ogawa not feel offended and work with Mr. Saito.
SHITARA:
Sometime ago, Mr. Saito referred to Akita dogs as monsters. But foreigners associate the Japanese dog only with the Akita dog. That statue of Hachiko in front of the Shibuya Station, and the stuffed specimen of Hachiko at the museum (referring to the Ueno Museum In Tokyo). No medium and small dogs are shown (Medium and small dogs were added later in the museum). Foreigners that are enthusiastic about the Akita dog, undoubtedly, believe that the statue is a good example of a Japanese dog. Mr. Saito's emotional ties at the time of the statue's unveiling is quite understandable after learning about his involvement in the project. However, that statue has had a profound Influence on foreigners who believe that the so called monster type of Akita dog is the true Japanese dog. The balancing of the merits and faults against each other that have resulted is due to the efforts of Mr. Saito, which I believe should be specially mentioned.
MATSUMOTO:
After looking at the photograph of the stuffed specimen of Hachiko, I said to myself I would like to see such an Akita dog produced. If I had such a fine large dog, I may be tempted to go from medium dogs to the Akita dog.
SAITO:
I used the photograph of my first Dewa as a reference to show Hachiko in his .prime. After the stuffed specimen was completed, I took it off its pedestal and buried the metal rods that were sticking out of the feet into gravel. I put a leash on the specimen and had a picture taken. When I showed this to the judges at the Kansai dog show, no one noticed that the dog was a stuffed specimen.
MATSUMOTO:
Well done. I believe that the possibility of such an excellent dog reappearing could happen. One should study and work toward that goal.
KATO:
I have learned much about Japanese dogs by inquiring today. Because of its great popularity today. Although Japanese dogs are enjoying a great popularity today, Japanese dog fans should carry on scientific studies, and carry on discussions in order to discover the proper course and head for that goal with enthusiasm. For the sake of the advancement of Japanese dogs, we should also always be wary of very self-complacement leaders and dog lovers.
SAITO: I would like to close at this point, and thank Mr. Matsumoto for coming to this meeting from a great distance and talk to us. I would like to call on him again in the near future.
saitomat.sum Translated 05/04/1999. Edited 05/22/2002.
From ancient times, mothers in Japan used Akita dog to guard their children. Generally these dogs have a reserved behavior. However, when sensing dangerous human beings or animals the dog's defensive instincts turns to boldness to protect his owner's household. [Read more]
