If you own an Akita, breed them, or simply love the breed, this book gives you the full 400-year story behind the dog — assembled from sources that have never been gathered in one place before. It traces the Akita from its origins as a matagi hunting dog in the snowbound mountains of Akita, through its use as a fighting dog by samurai in the Edo period, the crossbreeding of the Meiji era, the "New Akita" of the Taisho years, and the near-extinction the breed suffered during the war, when only a handful of dogs survived.
The author has drawn on writings and photographs from elders of the Nihon Ken Hozonkai and the Akita Inu Hozonkai, holdings from libraries and archives across Akita Prefecture, microfilm from the Akita Sakigake Shimpo newspaper, rare old books, and oral traditions passed down in matagi villages. You get bloodline charts old and new, records of Showa-era Akita exhibitions, and albums of the great dogs of the past. A substantial section is devoted to Goromaru, the Ichinoseki-line sire whose blood runs in virtually every Akita alive today, including rarely seen photographs and the first publication of his pelt in half a century — the dog whose genetic influence forced the pinto coat to be accepted as a legitimate color.
The book also brings the story up to the present, with an interview with the oldest working Akita breeder in Japan, sixty-three years in the trade, accounts from owners whose lives were saved by their dogs, and reportage from this year's spring headquarters show. Twelve chapters cover breeds descended from the Akita, the Kazuno versus Odate origin debate, the pinto coat controversy, Akita motifs in local art and crafts, and the white dog legends. An illustrated essay on living with Akitas and a 400-year chronological table close the volume.
The text is in Japanese, and the extensive photographic and documentary material can be followed visually. Published by SEIBUNDO SHINKOSHA. 240 pages, brand new.
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