It is true to say that much has been written about the history of the Akita-Inu/American Akita. Suffice to say that up until the 1930’s they were thought of as one, with a common history. Thinking in Japan changed during the Showa era. (1920-1940)

Early in the Showa era, the Odate town manager, Mr. Shigeie Izumi, was very anxious about the cross-breeding of Odates with other dogs. In an effort to preserve the purity of the Odate breed, he established the Akita-Inu Preservation Society in 1927. At the same time, dog fighting gradually declined in popularity, reflecting the interests of the times. There are only a few photographs of the dogs of that era. Two dogs, a male named “Tochi-2” and a female named “Babagoma,” owned by Mr. Kunio Ichinoseki, had a great influence on the current Akita breed. Other breeds also influenced the current breed. However, few photographs of the other breeds of that era remain.

In the Asahi newspaper of August 4, 1932 , the faithfulness of Hachiko was reported, and the reputation of Akitas became well known all over Japan . Hachiko was born in Odate in 1923 and moved to Tokyo two months later. Hachiko’s owner was Dr. Ueno, a professor at Tokyo University . Dr. Ueno passed away when Hachiko was only a year and a half old. For the next ten years, Hachiko continued to go to Shibuya station every evening to wait for his master even though his master had died. Hachiko died in 1935.

During World War II, most dogs in Japan were conscripted for military use. However, a few people secretly kept Akita-Inu. After the War, some officers of the occupation forces in Akita prefecture wanted to keep Akitas as pets. These were very hard times; many people were near starvation because food was so scarce. Nevertheless, Akita breeding was restarted. For the revival of Akita , “Tsubakigoma” survived from the War and returned to Mr. Ichinoseki’s home. Both “Tsubakigoma” and “Kongo” of the Dewa series rendered a great contribution.

From the reconstruction period after the War to more prosperous times, two major breeding lines, the Ichinoseki line and the Dewa line became popular. The first is the “Ichinoseki-goma” lines of Mr. Kunio Ichinoseki, and the second is the “Dewa” line. It was the Dewa line that became popular all over Japan and among the occupation forces as well. The line featured “Taishu-Kongo,” who became very well known. On the contrary, the Ichinoseki line was passed on to “Goromaru” and “Gyokuun.” Around 1960, thanks to “Toou” and “Toun,” the Akita breed was again in the limelight.

Nowadays, efforts to maintain improvements in the Akita breed continue; two major nationwide exhibitions (dog shows) are held every year by the Akita Inu Preseavation Society.

One is the Spring Exhibition, which is held in Odate on May 3rd, each year. The other is the Autumn Exhibition, which is held, in turn, on the 1st Sunday of December at one of the branches of the society, such as Tohoku & Hokkaido, Kanto, Tokai & Hokuriku, Kansai, Chugoku & Shikoku and Kyushu . In addition, minor exhibitions and conferences for the study of dogs are held at each branch at other times throughout the year. It should be noted that the only permitted colours for the Akita-Inu are white, red/white sesame (red/white with black tinge to coat) and brindle. All should display Urajiro markings although this is not always obvious on the brindle.

The Split

The Japan Kennel Club (JKC) in response to numerous requests, organised the first World Akita Conference in Tokyo in December 1996. At this conference attended by representatives of 14 countries, it was decided that the American type of Akita and the Japanese Akita were two different breeds and should be shown separately and not be interbred. JKC would have liked to have the American Kennel Club (AKC) and The Akita Club of America to also split the Akita into two breeds at the same time as the FCI. The AKC would not agree to a split and to date there is no split in USA.

On June 10, 1998, a letter signed by 24 FCI member countries was presented to the FCI board. It stated in part: “Since the Japan Kennel Club has officially admitted, before the present General Assembly of FCI, that two different breeds of Akita do indeed exist, and since one of these two breeds was developed not in Japan but in USA, it has become urgent to recognize that breed formally, under the patronage of FCI.”

A second World Akita Conference was held in Haam, Germany in December of 1998.  This was attended by 24 representatives including AKC/ACA and the movement for the split gained momentum. Most FCI countries affected the split from June 1999, with Ireland following in 2003 and UK in 2006.

The Japanese Akita

There is no such breed within the FCI. The name is only used in the UK due to refusal of the Akita breed club in UK to accept the FCI name of American Akita for their dogs. To differentiate between the two types, the name Japanese Akita Inu was given to the Akita Inu in UK.