The Nihon Ken Blog

NIPPO Registration Numbers 2025

2026-04-09T08:26:00.003+09:00

2025 NIPPO Registrations:

Shiba 13,722

Kishu 132

Shikoku 252

Hokkaido 11

Kai 78

Akita 5

2024 NIPPO Registrations:

Shiba 14,695

Kishu 119

Shikoku 180

Hokkaido 11

Kai 59

Akita 12

2023 NIPPO Registrations:

Shiba 18,346

Kishu 169

Shikoku 227

Hokkaido 6

Kai 110

Akita 8

To put this population decline in perspective, the numbers from 20 years ago.

2005 NIPPO Registrations:

Shiba 36,071

Kishu 940

Shikoku 656

Hokkaido 2

Kai 25

Akita 2

Shiba Inu Decline

2026-03-28T15:34:00.002+09:00

I think we are all aware of the decline in the registration numbers for the medium sized Nihon Ken breeds, especially the Kishu, Shikoku, and Hokkaido. But something that is not being talked about is the decline in Shiba registration numbers.

Did you know that till around 2017 NIPPO had over 30,000 Shiba Inu registered every year? In 2024, there were only 14,695. In the last 6 years we have seen a registration decline of over 50 percent. The Japan Kennel Club's Shiba Inu registration decline in the same period is over 60 percent, as last year they only had 3,598 registrations.

While there is still a large gene pool in Japan, and worldwide, as we have seen in other breeds it is best to get ahead of negative trends before they become real issues. Anyway, I'm just trying to sound the alarm bell that Shiba breeders and preservationists should be aware that it is not just 'the other' Nihon Ken that are in decline.

Human Bear Conflict in Japan

2025-11-11T08:21:00.005+09:00

As a hunter in Japan, I've got a unique view of the current bear problems that Japan is facing. During my last trip to Europe in September, I had the chance to have a lot of conversations about wildlife management practices, how they can mesh with hunting, and have had some time to think about what I can do to be a part of the solution.

Unfortunately the government in Japan has not had a cohesive plan for the management of bears, and the result is not good. We have two species of bear in Japan, the large brown bears on Hokkaido island in the north, and the Asiatic black bear scattered through the rest of Japan. Bears can be hunted in Japan, although in some prefectures where they are still endangered, they are protected. In fact for many years the bears were very protected, as they had been hunted almost to extinction. Our human forefathers had a way of doing that to predators. Today have a very particular problem, where due to a population shift out of the countryside, and into the cities, there is actually increasing habitat for the wildlife in Japan, and with massive amounts of farmland going fallow due to an aging farming population, there is plenty of food close to human habitation. We are seeing numbers of deer, boar, and bear that Japan has not had in almost 200 years.

Photo Bunshun Online

There are no concrete numbers for the bear population, because the Ministry of the Environment has never done a survey. Wikipedia lists Japan as having a population of 2000 brown bear, but since we had to cull over 1800 in 2023 alone, it is safe to assume our population is much larger. It is generally accepted that we have at least over 12,000 brown bear in Hokkaido (more likely 20,000), and 12,000 black bear through the rest of the country (more likely 50,000). However in my opinion this number is a vast underestimate. In 2023, which was the worst year for human bear conflict, we had to cull 9000 bears. In 2024, 5000 were culled. This year hunters have culled 6000 bears since April. And still, 2025 is the worst year on record for human bear conflict. We have record numbers of bear sightings, over 200 attacks on humans since April of this year, leading to twelve deaths. Shockingly, over 90 percent of the attacks on humans this year have not been in 'natural' areas, but in areas of human habitation, often within cities, with bears breaking into buildings and houses, and in one case in Hokkaido, stalking and killing a newspaper delivery man.

Because the bears were protected for many years, and many types of hunting them were restricted, there are almost no bear hunters left. You can't just flick your fingers and have bear hunters, it's a dangerous thing that requires skill, experience, and someone to teach you. And the dogs, well if you no longer have dogs that are specifically bred and trained to hunt bear, it may take years before you can restart a hunting program. Due to the aging population we also have a continual decrease in hunters, and the average age of hunters in Japan is well over 60 years old. As recent as 10 years ago, there was only one hunter left in the Hokkaido Ken Hozonkai breeding Hokkaido for bear hunting.

Most bear control now is done by the hunter's association, through trapping. But in my opinion a more planned approach is necessary. There should be more hunting using dogs, as the bears that escape will definitely learn to fear humans and dogs, and non lethal trap and release, gps tagging, and hazing (scaring) bears that are near human habitation should be used. Teach the bears that live near human habitation to steer clear. Currently, the bears have been shown to have little to no fear of humans, with traditional means of bear avoidance like walking around with bells, radios, making noise etc not having any affect on the bears, and in some cases it has been shown that the bears are now actively attracted to these noises.

Coexistence is definitely possible, but management plans need to take all factors into consideration: holding capacity of natural areas, manageable population number, training and organization of bear management teams to keep bear away from human habitation through hazing, and culling of problem animals when necessary. If the bear that live near humans have a healthy fear of them, we generally will not even know they are there.

While in Norway, cattle man, hunter, and bear researcher Halvor Sveen showed me a very interesting video he had taken of a bear in Norway coming down from the mountain. One whiff of a human scent on something dropped on the ground, and the bear wheeled around like it had been struck by lightning, and went back into the forest. That's a bear that knows to stay away from humans.

There is one NPO in Japan that works with the local municipality in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture. They were set up to help manage the bear population there, and from what I've heard 20 years in and they are doing very well. Picchio's bear management plan is based off of a similar US based NPO, and so imported their Karelian Bear Dogs from the US program. I will hopefully be able to visit with the staff from Picchio this December while I'm up hunting in Nagano. I've always thought that this could be a task that the Nihon Ken could really shine in, and giving them official work could really help the preservation efforts.

With almost daily bear attacks this autumn, the government has finally set up a committee to deal with bear issues at a national level. They have passed legislation allowing police snipers to shoot bear, and in an unprecedented move, the Japanese military has been deployed to problem areas. That is how serious the situation is in Japan. Earlier this year they passed legislation which should permit the shooting of dangerous animals in urban areas, by hunters, under certain conditions.

The bear situation is an interesting case study in how man, nature, and wildlife converge even in a very modern country like Japan. Nature is not something that we only visit on the weekend, to be left 'untouched' as is often said. We are part of it, even if man currently has imaginary lines where nature stops. And in a small country where we still have a very large amount of natural areas and wildlife, and where we have a resurrected population of large predators, man still needs to be a part of the equation. Hunting sustainably and respectfully, the oldest human pursuit, still has its place and is still necessary.

Interview With [Jeger] in Norway

2025-11-10T08:24:00.005+09:00

A short piece was done on me while I was traveling in Norway. I think the article is behind a paywall, but I'll post it here anyway for posterity. This one was talking about the bear issues we are having in Japan now, which I will post more about later. The excellent photography was by the excellent Antonia Staecker.

https://www.jeger.no/jakt-og-samfunn/viltforvaltning/jegeren-shigeru-kato-soker-kunnskap-i-norge?fbclid=IwY2xjawN-AVdleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFHQkFLSGhidUtIVHJKbHRqc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHvnc2sFjvb3eU1Gb0qJRvR4W9-3vmUy884xiC6YYKEN94MBHzMP3f2PVX_x-_aem_XV6laipYt8j3UAq8pxZboQ

Big Game Indicating Dogs

2025-11-09T08:53:00.003+09:00

So as I've been talking about, I'm currently training my Pointer pup Boudica (aka Budi) and my Kai pup Tsuki, to be versatile hunters. And more specifically, I want them to point and retrieve birds on land and in the water (we'll see how that goes), and to track and point big game like boar and deer. In addition to that, I'm training them to blood track as well, but to be hones that's been quite easy, as to a certain level I think almost any dog could work in that style.

There are quite a few hunters around the world doing various forms of this big game pointing, and I've known of this gentleman for quite a few years now. Paul Michaels is a dog trainer with a training program called Deer Dog Training Blueprint, so in the interest of learning more, and not flying completely blind trying to create my own training program, I've bought his! His channel Big Game Indicating Dogs is quite interesting, so give some of his videos a watch if you're interested. Even if you're not a hunter, training your dog to these levels of obedience and control make your life and your dog's life, much easier and more enjoyable. It increases the amount of things you can do together.

https://biggameindicatingdogs.com/

It was very interesting that while I had planned to make this move into this style of hunting, I didn't think it very suitable for the Japanese breeds. And then, I go to Norway to interview this Shikoku Ken that is hunting there, and it is essentially being used in this big game tracking and pointing style. So the Japanese breeds can do it, now whether they are the best breed suited to it, you be the judge.

I'll let you know how the program goes. I guess if I don't like it, there's a 30 day money back guarantee.

Kai Vs. Pointer

2025-11-07T17:52:00.003+09:00

I think the future of hunting with dogs lies in highly biddable, well trained (safe), dogs that are under the hunter's control at all times. A dog that is essentially an unleashed weapon, hunting independently, well there was a time and age for that. The problem is that a dog like that can be a liability. They might attack livestock for instance, or hunt the wrong game, which is why hunting with dogs is becoming more and more regulated. If for instance only certain numbers of a certain species are allowed for harvest, maybe I have a tag for an adult male boar. Well I need a dog that can find game, but is not chasing deer, attacking smaller animals, or if it gets on an adult female wild boar, I need to be able to call it off. This is something I've seen hunters in Australia do with their pig dogs (call off dogs, or have them catch or release on command), and I saw it most recently in the Nordics with dogs that were working moose.

Added to this are animal welfare issues. A dog that is hunting in a traditional canine hunting style that wants to make contact with game (ie bite), is more likely to be injured, especially when hunting wild boar. It's an almost accepted part of boar hunting, that dogs will get injured (or die) at some point, and I think society is becoming less and less tolerant of that. I think it will eventually become illegal. That style of hunting also causes stress, injury, and suffering to wild animals, which is also being less and less tolerated. If we are going to take an animal's life, it should be as quickly and painlessly as possible.

A pointing style dog, that is hunting under the command of the hunter, at close quarters, solves those issues. It is actually becoming quite a popular style of hunting to use dogs to track, find, and point large game like deer and boar.

While hunting with primitive breeds with thousands of years of history, in their historic environment, has been amazing, I have been thinking about the future. No matter which way you cut it, a breed that has evolved naturally with very little selection, well it's going to have some issues adapting fast enough to a constantly changing modern world.

Another nice thing about hunting with a pointing type breed is that it's a much less high octane hunt. You are proceeding very slowly, at the pace you choose. When hunting with my Kishu or Shikoku, once they make contact with a boar, it's a hard scramble to get there and finish the animal as quickly as possible. The longer you leave the situation, the more chance the prey escapes, or your dog gets injured. It's actually a rather high stress style of hunting.

I've never raised and trained a non Japanese hunting breed, and have always wanted to try it as a learning experience. And to make things more complex (because what's the fun in easy), I'm raising a Kai female, and a Pointer female that are the same age, in the same style, so that I can make comparisons. There's also some other possible uses for this Kai and Pointer, but for now I'm just training up two new hunting dogs to use as all round hunting dogs that can track, find, and point birds and large game. Here's some notes I've taken so far:

Leaving home seemed much more shocking and stressful for the Kai.

Kai is careful, thoughtful, starts slowly

Pointer is 100% go chewing the sofa, eating rocks, grabbing plastic

Kai only needs a light correction and will generally not do it again

Pointer will do it several times at least

Kai Pees at predictable intervals

Pointer pees randomly, sometimes a minute after last peeing

But, both sleep through the night, not a single accident, 9pm to 6am, in bed with me. Lucky

Pointer is enthusiastic with training, but messy.

When the Kai does it, it's sharp and clean.

The Pointer wants to do it, and is able to do far more repetitions.

The Kai, you are constantly competing against the environment, and have to maintain constant training. You must point out that NOT obeying the command is not an option.

Both learn very quickly, but the Kai seems to be a more mature thinker.

The Kai is environment and handler soft. The Pointer is environment soft, but handler hard.

The Kai is much more agile, elegant in movement, has great control of its body, with great spring. The Pointer is clumsy in comparison, but at speed its long leggy frame and movement will definitely allow it to cover more ground. I don't need a dog this big and heavy though. The Kai size is just right, and the coat is absolutely superior. I don't know which dog man thought it would be a good idea to give a working dog a short coat like this. C'mon, with all that rain in the British Isles, and you make a naked working dog? Boudica is shivering and it's 16 degrees. I feel terrible for her already and winter has not even begun.

I picked two pups that were not energizer bunnies, not overly outgoing, not vocal, not shy, the most even tempered, but reacted with contact and eye contact to strangers (me), most environmentally sound, and were very food motivated. Other than a few vet trips it hasn't been too terrible. I very much enjoy having dogs around again, and training them up together like this is a very new experience. I'm growing as a dog man and trainer. The hunting season starts in a week.

Oh, and they both point. Yes, the Pointer's is much more refined, and she tends to hold it longer, but the Kai points naturally too.

Katja Weber

2025-10-27T08:33:00.001+09:00

Last week, a friend sent me a message on Facebook to let me know that Katja Weber of Akashima Shikoku Kennels had passed away. Katja was a friend for many years, and she worked tirelessly for the Shikoku. As the founder of the second Shikoku kennel outside Japan — and the first in North America — her name and her dogs are known to most people who have spent any time in the breed.

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For twenty years, Katja dedicated herself to achieving official recognition of the Shikoku Ken by the Canadian Kennel Club, finally succeeding in this monumental task in 2020. I remember how happy and proud she was at that time — it was a well-earned victory.

I had the pleasure of visiting Katja and her husband George many years ago at their lovely home in British Columbia, and I still remember those ribs (and George's moose). We were able to see each other again a few years later when they visited Japan for the NIPPO Grand National. George and I even managed to get out hunting together with Baron while they were here — and we brought home some bacon.

Over the years, I’ve written a few posts bidding farewell to the old guard of the Japanese breeds here in Japan, but this is my first goodbye to one of the old guard overseas.

Goodbye, Katja. All of us will miss you, and the breed will miss you. Thank you for everything you did for the Shikoku — and my deepest condolences to your family and friends, who no longer have you here with them.

Old is New: Shikoku Ken 'Ichiju Ikku' in the Fjords of Norway

2025-10-21T17:40:00.003+09:00

It is mid-September in fjord country on the west coast of Norway, where towering grey mountains plunge into the sea. The water is clear, cold, and teeming with fish, the sky a deep blue. The green lower forest slopes are full of grazing sheep, but above the timberline the rocky highlands look like troll country. The famed Trollvegen (the “Troll Wall”) is only a few minutes away, the scale and shape of its peaks forcing one to understand why legends say they were carved by trolls. While the trolls are long gone, there are bears in the mountains of Norway and an increasing wolf population. Today, we are looking for red deer with Rina and her 3-year-old Shikoku male, Sagan.

Norway has a population of roughly 5.5 million, 200,000 of whom are hunters—Japan has a roughly equal number of hunters, but out of a population of 120 million. In a positive trend, I am told that the number of female hunters in Norway has been steadily increasing, and they now make 16 percent of registered hunters. The country is rich in game such as deer, moose, fox, wild boar, and birds, and unlike Japan where we have a three month hunting season that covers all game, in Norway the seasons for specific species stretch throughout the year. In fact there are only a few weeks in July when there is nothing to be hunted. This variety of game leads to an equal variety of hunting styles and dogs.

I ended up here in the fjords after planning a trip to Europe to research hunting culture, legislation, and hunting breeds. We often say that Japan is 20 years behind the West when it comes to issues like animal rights and hunting legislation, so a trip to Europe is in some ways a trip into the future. What kind of changes should we in Japan expect? What can we learn from European legislation and hunting culture? A while back I’d heard there was a hunter in Norway starting to use Shikoku to hunt large game, and knew I had to find a way to see this for myself. A call to longtime friend Mika Haetta from the Norwegian Nihon Ken Club put me in touch with the right people.

Rina Ravn (47) and Tor Vangen (51) have been hunting since they were teenagers. Arriving at Tor's house outside Oslo a few days ago, I meet their three dogs: a Norwegian Elkhound named Tyra, a Shikoku female named Alfa, and a 3-year-old Shikoku male named Sagan. Sagan was born in Italy, Alfa in Sweden. The dogs are calm and quiet in their kennels, and all three are let out and greet me without aggression, shyness, or over friendliness. True to breed, the Shikoku are affectionate with their owners, but size up strangers before deciding to accept them. Rina has owned, trained, and hunted with over 15 breeds, and when I ask her to describe the Shikoku Ken, she explains their traits by comparing them to other breeds. Some parts remind her of a Malinois, she says, like their drive and trainability. With so many years of experience, she surprisingly declares the Shikoku to be one of the best hunting breeds she has ever owned.

Among the myriad styles of hunting in Norway, one of the more traditional is the use of Norwegian Elkhound to find and bay moose. While crossing Norway from Oslo in the east, to the fjords in the west, we stopped by a friend's house where a training session was underway using a mechanical animal. Controlled via app by smartphone, this remote-control moose was built by Tony of T-F Elgkampen’s Kennel, a well-known hunter and Elkhound breeder. Moose are large and dangerous prey, their most serious weapon a deadly forward kick, so introducing young or inexperienced dogs to a mechanical moose is a controlled method of preparing dogs for a true hunt in the forest. Since there are now quite a few countries where the use of live animals for training hunting dogs is no longer allowed, something that I can see happening in Japan in the future, a mechanical animal of this nature is quite useful.

At the end of the training session, we are allowed to test Alfa, Rina's Shikoku female, on the moose. This is her first experience in this type of situation, so everyone is curious to see how this breed from Japan will react. While she maintains some distance, she quickly starts to bark, and as the moose begins to move her instincts as a hunter kick in. She shows signs of trying to cut off the moose’s movement, and regularly looks back to see her position in regard to her owner, all while continuing to bark. It's been a good day for all involved, and very interesting to see the Norwegian Elkhound, the Jämthund (Swedish Elkhound), and the Shikoku—three northern spitz-type breeds—evaluated in the same arena.

In Norway there are official tests and champion titles for hunting dogs, something we do not have in Japan, and both Tor and Rina are hunt test judges. Large game can generally be hunted on-leash or off-leash, and there are tests for both disciplines. Interestingly, in Norway it is illegal to hunt large game with more than one dog off-leash, and to hunt, a hunter must either own the land they are hunting on or have the landowner’s permission. In Japan, hunters are allowed to run as many dogs as they like, and are generally allowed to access even private land without permission. In addition to national hunting regulations, landowners can stipulate what type of hunting they allow on their properties, so today Rina will be hunting with her Shikoku male Sagan in an on-leash style.

We park the car at the base of the mountain and start to prepare. The wind is blowing from the north, and even though it is mid-September, the early morning is a chilly 11 degrees. Sagan wears a Tracker Artemis GPS collar and a harness with a 5-meter rope leash attached, and Rina carries her scoped rifle, a Tikka T3 6.5 with a new Freyr & Devik silencer. Silencers are not allowed in Japan, though in my opinion they should be: they protect the hunter’s ears, the dog’s ears, and preserve the quiet of the mountain.

I ask Rina what type of training is necessary in order to hunt with Shikoku in this style. She says that the foundation of the ability to hunt deer on leash comes from complete mastery of basic obedience commands like sit, stop, and stay, and that she finds the Shikoku to be a good learner. Most importantly, an energetic breed like the Shikoku needs to be taught to be calm from a young age, and this must be continually reinforced.

Rina pulls out a piece of dry deer skin and lets Sagan smell it as if to say, “This is what we are hunting today.” We start up the mountain slowly and quietly, paying attention to the direction of the wind, in much the way I would hunt in Japan if I were stalking deer without dogs. But here, we have the dog as an early warning system, using its advanced sense of smell to tell us when the deer is close. Sagan and Rina move in quiet tandem, sometimes creeping only a few meters forward before stopping to check the wind. I ask Rina what hunting traits she particularly likes about the Shikoku, and she says that they have a great nose, and track scents both on the ground and in the air. Many breeds tend to do only one or the other. In this style of on-leash hunting, the first scents that Sagan picks up are generally older and on the ground, and as we close distance on the deer he starts to use his takabana (high nose) to pick up scents on the air, pointing us toward the deer.

A few hours into our search through an upland forest littered with large boulders, we are on our first deer. Immediately I see a Shikoku trait that is very useful in this style of hunting: expressive body language. The Shikoku tends to be very aware of its environment and quick to react to it—a trait that is looked for in the NIPPO (Japanese Dog Preservation Society) show ring in Japan. As the track gets fresher, Sagan begins to pull slightly on the leash, and Rina uses hand signals and commands to sometimes slow him down, bring him to heel, and let him forward. All the while, it is very easy to see what is happening, and how close we are to the deer just by watching his body language. At times he comes to an almost point in tachikomi—a natural stack. When Rina is ready to take a shot, she orders Sagan into a sit, and she sets her sights.

Sagan is also trained in blood tracking, which is when a dog and handler team work to find dead or injured animals. In August this year, Sagan was featured in the local newspaper when he tracked an 89-kilogram wild boar that had been shot by a local hunter. Wild boar are very rare in the area, which is why the article was in the paper, but it is interesting to note that in many countries in Europe it is required for hunters to have access to a blood-tracking team in order to have permission to hunt large game. Hanya (injured prey) is something that hunters all over the world detest, but in many European countries it is mandated by law that hunters must put forth every effort to find all the animals they have shot. In Norway if a wild animal has been hit by a car on the road, the wildlife officers must be called, and a tracking team will often be brought in to find the injured animal. There are currently many Shiba being used all over northern Europe as tracking dogs, and I see this as something the Japanese breeds would naturally excel at.

Twenty years of hunting has taught me that the expectations and requirements of a hunting dog vary according to the terrain, prey, local legislation, and preferences of hunters. In this style of on-leash hunting, we are unable to judge a dog’s search range, its renraku (when a dog returns to the hunter to confirm location and search direction), recall, whether it will vocalize correctly, stay focused and committed once prey is found, and whether it can stop and hold prey in place. These are things that I would require of my dogs when hunting wild boar Japanese style in the mountains of Chiba. However, seeing these Shikoku in Norway under different requirements reminds me of a conversation I had with the former head of NIPPO judging and lifelong hunter Mitani Sensei. I called him several years ago and discussed the lack of a ‘working standard’ for the Japanese breeds, and the possible need for one. His reply was that the Nihon Ken (Japanese Dog) has traditionally hunted in many different styles, and that as a preservation society our goal should be the preservation and allowance of all the various instincts and styles in the Japanese breeds. Individual hunters are then free to choose what traits to breed toward in their hunting lines.

The Shikoku Ken is an ancient, primitive breed, which generations of NIPPO members have tirelessly worked to preserve. They are Japan’s tennenkinenbutsu, officially designated as national treasures. NIPPO’s focus on preservation means valuing tradition, the maintaining of the Nihon Ken Standard, and the preservation of the Nihon Ken as a hunting breed. In Japan, Ichiju Ikku (One Gun, One Dog) is a term of great respect that has traditionally been considered to be the ultimate goal of hunting with a Nihon Ken. One hunter and one dog, battling the elements in the oldest human endeavor of all. It is an honest reckoning of skill, in the truest working test of all—The Hunt.

Today, the Shikoku Ken in Japan is in the midst of a precipitous decline, and it is more important than ever for us to find new work for the modern day Shikoku. This could help increase awareness of the breed, and attract people passionate about its preservation. A breed with a job is a breed that will survive. The supreme importance of maintaining the Nihon Ken’s working abilities is written into NIPPO’s original mission statement. While the vast majority of the breed today is bred for preservation and exhibition, it fills me with a sense of satisfaction and pride that in the fjords of Norway there are now Shikoku being hunted in a new way, but one that I think would impress the hunters of old. An ancient breed, hunting in a modern style of Ichiju ikku—the pinnacle of human-canine partnership.

For inquiries about permission to reproduce or publish this article, contact me at kato.the.walrus@gmail.com.

The Wrong Ear Pup

2025-10-21T14:59:00.001+09:00

So for the first time I'm doing something that I always advise against, which is to raise two hunting puppies at the same time. Let's even scratch the hunting part and say that it's never a good idea to raise two puppies at the same time. Pups need training, training takes time, and we all have limited time and resources. If you're raising two pups, your time and resources get split. There's also the issues you will have of two pups being more focused on doing things together, rather than being focused on their relationship with you, unless you have a set up where you can keep them generally separated (something most pet owners or hunting households will not be able to do).

But here I am. I haven't had any dogs for a year and a half, and since I'll still be hunting, I do need some dogs to work with. I have some ideas of what type of dogs I want to own and produce, to go with what I feel is the future of hunting. I'll post more about that later. So to go with the Kai female that I've got that was born on July 13th, I've got a pointer female that was born on July 27th.

Boudica is out of a female named Rin, who is bred, owned, and hunted by a local friend of mine. In an interesting twist, there are groups of hunters here in the south of Chiba prefecture that hunt big game with pointing dogs. I'll cover that in another post as well. Rin has a lovely temperament, very even tempered, quiet, and calm for a pointer. She hunts birds and four footed game. The sire of this litter is out of this same line of pointers, that are out of European (British) pointer lines.

Part of the reason I am raising the two pups at the same time is that I often get asked how the Japanese hunting breeds are different from Western hunting breeds. It's a tough one to answer unless you've owned, trained, and hunted both sides of the coin. So here we are: I'm raising a Kai and Pointer that are both females, in the same style, and they are roughly the same age. I'll document for myself and anyone else interested, the differences I see as they progress, and together we'll get to judge the end result, which of course will be the ultimate test of the hunt.

I picked up Tsuki on October 2nd, and Boudica around 10 days later. The journey has started, and I've already regretted it a few times. It is definitely not easy, but it has been enjoyable as well. Every new breed I own and work with teaches me something new. There's so many assumptions we can make about breeds and hunting based on what we read or have other hunters explain to us, but nothing really cuts it like seeing dogs in the flesh, in the field, and better yet, raising them from when they're pups. And yeah, Boudica is called my 'wrong ear pup' because my Finnish friends over at Rangerin Kennel say the Nihon Ken have the 'right ears' and these floppy type ears are 'wrong ears'. I like that.

Training a Tracking Kai Ken

2025-10-12T19:22:00.004+09:00

So I'm training my new Kai pup Tsuki in tracking and blood tracking. There's not a whole lot of that in Japan to be honest. I've seen blood tracking wounded, or injured wild animals in Europe is the norm, with various breeds used for the process. We don't quite have the hunting culture here yet that says every injured animal needs to be found, or at least all effort needs to be made to do so. I saw last month that in Norway if you hit a wild animal while driving, you are required to call it in to the wildlife management authorities, and they will send someone out, and if necessary call in a tracking team.

Another type of tracking that I've been interested in for awhile is the use of pointing type dogs to find large game, and 'point' them. There are a growing number of hunters in Australia and New Zealand using this method to hunt deer and other large game, and I've discovered that it's also a thing in the Nordics. There are even hunters here in Chiba prefecture that use this method, and it came about through sheer necessity.

By the 1970's wild boar had been driven to extinction in the prefecture, and the last 200 deer were in the Katsuura area, and a protected area was set up for them. Fast forward 30 years, and hunters had brought wild boar back into the prefecture and released them, and the deer have flourished under protection. So we now have large numbers of wild game, but the hunters here have only been hunting birds like 'yamadori' and pheasant, so they have bird dogs. Hunters discovered that some of their bird dogs would point large game they accidentally came across, and preferred that the dogs were more biddable that traditional Nihon Ken hunting dogs. So in the Kyonan area specifically, there are a lot of deer, and a lot of hunters that use Pointers and Setters to hunt them.

In Australia they call them Big Game Pointing Dogs, or Big Game Indicating Dogs, and last month in Norway I actually interviewed a hunter who is successfully running a Shikoku in this style. I will be uploading a post about this here soon! The big game pointing dogs can run the track on leash or off leash, depending on the hunter's preference. Obviously it takes a lot of work to train a dog to hunt under these conditions, but if you can manage it, it is impressive.

The reason why I've been interested in this style of hunting is because I think it may be the future of hunting large game with dogs. Animal Rights based legislation has an agenda, and while their end game is generally the banning of all hunting, the low hanging fruit will be targeted first. One of those things is the type of hunting where dogs make contact with wild animals, biting them, stressing them severely, or killing them. I think these things will eventually be banned, or be legislated much more strictly.

So in pointing style big game hunting, the dog is in very little danger (unlike in a lot of boar hunting for example), the animal being hunted is generally unaware it is being hunted, so it is not stressed, and it will not be injured by the dog. If the shot taken by the hunter is not immediately fatal, he has a tracking dog on hand to find it right away. And finally, the hunter can be extremely selective in what he chooses to harvest. This can be massively useful when one has a specific species/sex tag, and your dog finds something else. Well, just call it off and continue the hunt.

There are some demerits to this style of hunting. It comes with some difficulty, requiring a high level of training, and a pretty decent level of fitness for the hunter. It also may be difficult in certain areas due to distances or terrain, but really all the things I've listed are just inconveniences. I've see the hunters in New Zealand hunting in this style under very heavy rainforest like conditions with low visibility, so that is possible as well. Anyway, the only way to truly test a thing is to do it yourself, so my pointing dog project is underway. And because only training a Kai to do this might not work, or might not be that difficult, I've also got a Pointer pup. Both pups are only 2 weeks apart in age, and I'll be training them to do the exact same things. More on this coming later in another post! Anyway, I've started Tsuki on her first track, a 50m Tanuki track that she did quite well on. She turned back on the track twice in true Kai fashion, realizing it was a very fresh wild animal, but with encouragement she moved forward again, never losing the track.

The Dogs of Japan - Beautiful Book

2025-10-11T19:54:00.004+09:00

So there's this book that came out in 2024, and it's currently my favorite Nihon Ken picture book. It covers all 6 of the recognized Japanese breeds, plus has sections on the Karafuto, Ryukyu, and even breaks the Shiba into three groups: Shinshu, Mino, and San-in.

The quality of the photography is excellent, and its 240 pages are full of interesting chapters that cover everything from hunting, to the DNA origins of the Nihon Ken. Of course it's all in Japanese, but it's a beautiful book to have for the coffee table, and we now have camera translators in our smartphones, right?

It's a bit of a tricky one to find available, as I think the print run was not that large. I took a copy with me to Europe in September where it was immediately claimed by everyone who saw it. I promised I would try to rustle up some copies, and have managed to find 5 more. If anyone is interested, hit me up at kato.the.walrus@gmail.com I'll double check with the post office, but I think 100euro for the book and shipping is doable.

Full Circle, Back to Kai

2025-10-10T20:45:00.000+09:00

The first hunting dog I ever owned after getting my gun license was Haru, a Kai Ken. Since then I’ve hunted with many Japanese breeds—Kai, Kishu, Shikoku—but now, after many seasons, I am once again raising a Kai Ken for the field. I've got some interesting ideas for what to use her for, but I'm watching her for a bit to see exactly how I want to train her.

To me, the greatest strength of the Kai Ken is its trainability. In my opinion they are the most intelligent of the Nihon Ken, and really watch their owners and match their energy and needs. Compared with the other Nihon Ken, they're also the most dog social, especially toward strange dogs. Maybe it’s the breed’s nature, maybe we just match well—but either way, I've always really enjoyed the Kai. If I'm allowed to say it, they are my favorite Nihon Ken.

Still, the Kai is not a forward-driving dog by temperament. They're often too cautious, and lacking confidence. And I’ve learned the hard way: choose the wrong puppy, and you might get one too shy. If you're picking a Kai pup out of a litter, never take a pup that shows any shyness.

I visited Tsuki three times before bringing her home—at about two weeks old, then one month, then around seventy days. I also spent time with her mother, and visited her sire. I know their lines; I've seen the dogs in them for nearly twenty years. One would think all that data would make choosing easy—but of course, it’s never quite that simple.

After nearly two decades of judging dogs by the Nihon Ken standard, it's so difficult to pick one purely on temperament and working potential. But this time, I held steadfast: character comes first. I mean that's what should truly matter when picking a pup. It's a partner for life. Best pick one that is compatible with your lifestyle, personality, and needs, and don't make an emotional choice. I chuckled at one point while evaluating this litter of Kai pups, when I realized that in almost 20 years of evaluating Nihon Ken litters, I have never once had a conversation with a breeder where we prioritized pups based on their temperament. The 'pick of the litter' or the general order we place pups in is always based on type. Temperament has for too long been an after thought.

But I'm at a different place in life. I'm trying to own dogs that I will really enjoy, that will be fun. And, I want to be selecting for the best possible temperaments, and really compound that in my hunting dogs. So I chose the most balanced female—not extreme in any trait, but steady, even-tempered. Not too eager for attention, not extremely aware of environment, but not dull. And now we start the work: basic commands—sit, down, stay, come—and we'll move on to more advanced training. It looks like she is the kind of dog that will honor the effort.

The Holy Cow of Breed Preservation

2025-10-08T21:19:00.008+09:00

What led me to stop breeding Shikoku? Well, it was the same issues that led me to quit breeding pedigreed Kishu several years earlier: there were no males that I wanted to breed my females to. The first rule of breeding should always be the attempt to create a better dog—one that’s healthy and true to its purpose. Everything else, including our aesthetic preferences, comes after that. And this is where the danger of “preservation breeding” lies. Do we continue breeding at all costs? And if not, what costs are we willing to pay?

With the Kishu population rapidly declining, and thyroid and allergy issues widespread (to name a few of the health issues in the breed), every breeding began to feel like a game of Russian roulette. If I rolled unlucky, everyone lost— breeder, puppy owner, and most importantly, the dog. I have yet to visit a Kishu kennel where I haven’t seen at least one dog suffering from a severe skin issue that affects quality of life terribly. So not only was there a high probability of producing sick pups, but as a hunter, my expectations were even higher than those of a typical breeder. Any stud I use must have not only good health and sound temperament, but also proven working ability.

And herein lies the rub: I expect a lot. Unfortunately, the Kishu first—and a few years later, the Shikoku—were weighed in the balance and found wanting. There are simply too few “working” kennels in NIPPO.

Yes, it’s still possible to breed Kishu and Shikoku, though I think the former is no longer truly viable from a health perspective. Interestingly, there are still many non-pedigreed hunting Kishu in Japan. The six Japanese “breeds” classified by NIPPO in the early 1900s all trace their origins to hunting dogs taken from deep in the mountains. NIPPO members and dog brokers selected what they considered the “best” examples, but many dogs remained with the hunters. To this day, those bloodlines survive as what we call ji-inu—local dogs. Among them, the Kishu-type ji-inu remain some of Japan’s most popular big-game hunting dogs. No pedigrees? No problem.

A few years ago, I was asked on a podcast whether we’re in danger of losing the hunting Nihon Ken. My answer was no—but with a caveat. We have six separate pedigreed gene pools, plus a large one that remains unrecognized. Altogether, there are more than enough dogs to carry on the legacy of Japan’s aboriginal hunting dog—as long as one isn’t fixated on pedigrees. Fortunately, most hunters in Japan aren’t. Because of that, we could say that the Nihon Ken is not truly endangered. The six man made constructs, or 'breeds' that we've separated them into, are. But the same is now being said for pedigreed breeds in general. Any closed gene pool that is put through high levels of selection is heading for a genetic dead end. Some breeds are getting there faster than others (I'm looking at you Bulldogs and Dobermans), but it seems it is time for a rethink of our current idea of dogdom.

A few generations back, I began mixing pedigreed and non-pedigreed Kishu-type dogs—and the results have been A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. The difference you can make in a breeding program when your stud males actually have the traits you want to add is nothing short of incredible. While finding hunting Kishu males with good temperaments, health, and working ability was not difficult, the Shikoku present a trickier situation. There just aren’t many ji-inu lines left in Japan that truly carry the classic Shikoku type.

Over the past several years, I’ve started to see all the telltale signs of a shrinking Shikoku gene pool. Even more alarming has been the precipitous decline in the number of available stud males. As older preservationists began winding down their breeding programs, the first dogs they let go were often the males—difficult animals for an aging breeder to manage. Here in eastern Japan, we now have only a small handful of stud males left.

Years ago, when I first got on this preservation boat, I tried to convince everyone to send as many Nihon Ken as possible overseas, from as many different lines as we could. There simply weren’t enough people in Japan who wanted these dogs—particularly the medium-sized breeds (other than the Kai, but that’s another story). My thinking was that if we ever ran into trouble here in Japan, we’d have that overseas gene pool to draw from and bring back to the motherland.

Well, with a few tears, that day has pretty much arrived. This latest breeding season, there were almost no stud males available—very limited choices, high COIs for the pairings that could be done, and poor compatibility for the low-COI options (small dog to small dog, weak structure, and so on). So how long does one keep raging against the dying of the light, trying to maintain a breed? The answer will be different for each of us, but for me, that time has come and gone. In a closed gene pool—especially one that’s rapidly shrinking—options and hope disappear at equal speed.

If you’re not aiming to produce high-level working dogs, and you’re willing to accept things like possible decline in type and some health issues, it’s still possible, in my opinion, to stay in the breed. Try to preserve as much genetic diversity as you can. Aim for low COIs. Grow a thick skin, and be ready to take some losses. Plan ahead—look as far down the road as possible. But there is no making up for genetic diversity that has been lost. Well, without out-crossing, but that's another post for another time.

I’ve taken a year and a half sabbatical since shutting down my Shikoku breeding program, and I’ve had plenty of time to sort through the emotions and questions in my head. I've come out of this rest with some ideas, and more importantly, some clear direction. My ji-inu line based on Baron is still going strong. I’ll most likely continue it—with a few interesting tweaks—and I’ll keep posting Nihon Ken-related thoughts here on the blog. If you're reading thi, thanks for sticking around!

The Shikoku Compendium

2025-01-08T17:49:00.005+09:00

So this project is another of those that took some 'time'. The further along the project got, the more the need to make sure it was finished correctly became apparent, and so the 'time' would be measured in years. A faster finish may have been preferable, but the Norwegian Nihon Ken Club's Shikoku Compendium is now published and available for order online at The Nihon Ken Shop, and I for one believe it was well worth the wait.

Spearheaded by Mika Haetta's dogged perseverance, and helped along the way by many others including Japan Kennel Club president Mr.Satoshi Bessho, who was kind enough to contribute a foreword as well as an article on movement, the book is a moving tribute to the breed. Its beautiful depictions of the breed in Japan include historical photographs as well as shots of the Shikoku in the traditional NIPPO ring, and adds to this with Antonia Staecker's stunning and singular photographs of the breed hunting in traditional style in the mountains of Japan. Illustrations were hand drawn by Riina Haapakallio and many hours were spent deliberating with NIPPO judges to get them just so. Museums in Japan agreed to allow their photographs and archives to be used for the publication, and most importantly the Nihon Ken Hozonkai (Japanese Dog Preservation Society) allowed access and use of their photographs and data.

The compendium covers the history of the breed, the NIPPO and FCI standards with commentary, the NIPPO judging resolutions in their entirety, and more. We all know there has been a dearth of information and publications in English regarding the Japanese breeds, but what makes this compendium useful to not only the Shikoku Ken is the fact that the NIPPO standard is universal, meaning the information, commentary, and articles in it can generally be applied to the five other Japanese breeds as well.

I'll go out on a limb here and say nothing of this caliber regarding the Japanese breeds has been published in English before. It is well worth the read, and the book looks damn good on the table too. I was happy to donate my time and energy to this project by the Norwegian Nihon Ken Club, as a little thank you to the breed that has given me so much over the years. Hopefully everyone not only enjoys the beauty of the breed and the book, but also digs into the text and gives it a good read. My hope is that it helps the Japanese breeds be preserved as they were meant to be, according to the original standard as set forth by the founders of NIPPO.

NIPPO Webshop & YouTube Channel

2025-01-08T16:41:00.004+09:00

A couple projects I helped with are now online. NIPPO has an online shop with English capability, and international shipping. Quite a few products they have been working on were offered first at the most recent NIPPO Grand National show, and are now available through their website as well. The reasons behind launching the product line and shop are multiple, as NIPPO members will obviously enjoy having some official NIPPO Nihon Ken merchandise, and by virtue of this merchandise getting out there into the world it will increase the visibility of the Japanese breeds. Lastly, it will add another revenue stream so that NIPPO can continue their almost 100 year old efforts to preserve the Japanese breeds.

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https://japanese-dog-preservation-society.myshopify.com/en

You can see some of Antonia Staecker's photography used throughout the site, and much of the current NIPPO merchandise (t-shirts and stickers etc) was designed by Riina Haapakallio over at Haapakallio Design.

Also, NIPPO's official YouTube channel is now online, and as of today features video taken at the 2024 NIPPO Grand National. Special thanks to NIPPO member Antonia Staecker for volunteering her time to film and edit the video.

https://www.youtube.com/@OFFICIAL_NIPPO

Please take a look at the shop (and order some merch!), and follow and like NIPPO's IG and YouTube. All of this helps support their efforts to preserve the Nihon Ken, and of course shows them that we appreciate all the work they are putting in to these new projects. Cheers, and Happy 2025 to you all.

NIPPO's Website in English

2024-06-08T10:23:00.004+09:00

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So NIPPO is the first of the Nihon Ken registries in Japan to fully translate their website into English, and now also has an active Instagram account as well! I believe they have just surpassed the Japan Kennel Club in social media and anglicized web presence.

https://www.nihonken-hozonkai.or.jp/en/

The best part of this is probably the fact that the NIPPO standard, and almost more importantly, the NIPPO Judging Resolutions, have been translated and are downloadable from their site.

https://www.nihonken-hozonkai.or.jp/en/standard/

This project has been over a year in the works, and is long overdue, but hopefully everyone overseas trying to preserve the Japanese breeds will find it useful. The JKC has recently held 2 online seminars discussing the Akita and Shiba standards, and I was honored to be asked to translate for them. The Norwegian Nihon Ken Club has also just about finished a Shikoku breed compendium, and I imagine it will be available this summer.

The Japanese breeds have a great group of fanciers and breeders overseas now, and I'm happy that the registries and preservation societies here in Japan are really seeing the need to produce material in English for everyone. I've put a lot of sweat and tears into these projects, and hope I've done them justice in my interpretation and translation. Just know I put my heart and soul into them and did my best. While I'm dialing back the amount of time and energy I put into the preservation scene, these projects were the massive elephants on my to do list that I wanted to complete.

A smile crosses my face as I think about when this all started for me almost 20 years ago. That thought automatically connects to memories of all the dogs (and people) that have been part of the journey. Haru, my first Kai, and of course I think of Baron. It is amazing to think about the journey that these breeds we love have gone through to be with us today.

The Nihon Ken Standard

2024-01-13T20:58:00.006+09:00

One of my other remaining projects, something that is a bit of a monster to tackle, is a translation of the original Nihon Ken standard.

What follows is my translation, point 1 of 12. It is based on the current standard, along with official commentary from NIPPO's website. I keep it as dry and exact as possible, attempting to capture the nuance of how it was written and expressed in the original Japanese. I do not include any personal opinions or commentary. It's still a work in progress, so anyone with comments, feel free to comment.

The Nihon Ken Standard

The standard for the Japanese Dog (Nihon Ken) based on the characteristic traits of the Nihon Ken, and guiding the direction of the Nihon Ken that should be produced in the future was published in 1934 by the Japanese Dog Preservation Society (commonly referred to as NIPPO). It divided the Nihon Ken into three categories: small, medium, and large. It can be said that the Nihon Ken breed standards of all canine registries worldwide, including the preservation societies in Japan, were created based on this standard.

*This Nihon Ken standard is written in a style that aims to concisely and precisely summarize complex points, so the expressions used can be difficult to understand. In commentary we will attempt to explain each section, and draw attention to points of importance.

１．本質と其の表現

悍威に富み良性にして素朴の感あり、感覚鋭敏、動作敏捷にして歩様軽快弾力あり。

Essential qualities and their expression

Abounding in Kan-i, exhibiting Ryōsei and an air of Soboku, senses keen, movement agile, stride is light and elastic.

NIPPO commentary:

日本犬は悍威、良性、素朴の本質をとても大切にしています。悍威とは、気迫と威厳、良性とは、忠実で従順。素朴とは、飾り気のない地味な気品と風格をいい日本犬が生まれながらにして持つ根本的な性質を言い表しています。
加えてその表現は、小型犬と中型犬は感覚は鋭敏、動作は敏捷、歩様は軽快で、弾力があります。大型犬のその表現は、重厚なふるまい、である。と、それぞれに定義しています。

Kan-i, Ryōsei, and Soboku are extremely important essential traits of the Nihon Ken. Kan-i means spirited, with an air of authority. Ryōsei, loyal and subordinate. Soboku is a word that describes an innate quality of the Nihon Ken: an unadorned, unpretentious but refined air.

Additionally, the standard goes on to describe visually expressed traits: the small and medium size breeds are described as having senses keen, movement agile, stride is light and elastic. The large size breeds (Akita) are described as having a bearing of substance.

JAHD (Japan's OFA) Hip Dysplasia X-rays

2023-12-08T23:13:00.007+09:00

After all these years of working with Nihon Ken, I finally got around to registering a dog (Doru) with JAHD http://www.jahd.org/ which is like Japan's OFA. I thought it could be useful for people within and without Japan, and I probably should have done this years ago so all the overseas breeders could have had their adult imports graded before export, with results listed on their Japan Kennel Club export pedigrees.

I think the most difficult part of the process was educating and making my veterinarian aware of the importance of positioning, in order to get good x-rays. This will probably be the same for anyone else trying to get a dog rated by JAHD here in Japan. JAHD was quite surprisingly much more forgiving than OFA as far as information that has to be included on the x-ray itself. They say that dog name, hospital name etc etc all have to be listed on the x-ray on film or in DICOM format, but in the end they accepted the pretty barebones data provided by my veterinarian (though of course with a signed/stamped form attesting to all data).

I got Doru's knees graded as well (0 normal), but he started to come out of anesthesia before we finished the second elbow, so did not get that rated. X-ray can be taken with or without anesthesia, though I opted for anesthesia since I've never done it this way before, and because I wanted the positioning to be correct.

JAHD fees are quite reasonable, as they only charged 4000jpy to grade hips+knees (3000jpy for just hips) and took 1 month to grade and process everything. I've attached two shots of his hips so that everyone can get an idea of what the grading system here is like. The right was graded 4, and the left 4, for a total score of 8. JAHD's scoring system gives points (0-45 for each hip) with lower scores being better, and the JKC translates them to FCI grading. Grade is given based on the worse hip. Each point is awarded for things like laxity etc (it's quite a detailed and clear list they have going). Anyway JKC considers 0-4 A, 5-11 B, 12-15 C, 16-20 D, 21-45 E. https://www.jkc.or.jp/certificates_and_breeding/hereditary_disease/pedigree_certificate1

I wasn't sure if they'd give Doru an A or B, and I guess I was spot on as they gave him 4 for each hip, which is A, but he was pretty close to getting a B.

My veterinarian gives me great discounts but it did cost me 32,000 for the x-rays and anesthesia. I imagine the whole process will end up costing me about 50,000JPY. Once I've recorded the results to his JKC pedigree, I'll post a picture of it for future reference.

This is just part of my effort to wrap up some of the things I had left undone for the Nihon Ken.

Nihon Ken Pedigree Database

2023-12-05T10:37:00.002+09:00

In 2018 I created the Nihon Ken Pedigree Database Online as a resource for preservationists of the Japanese breeds. It started as a database to track the Shikoku Ken, and in 2019 was expanded to allow data from all 6 Nihon Ken. The following text comes from the top page of the site:

The Nihon Ken (Japanese Dog) are the 6 aboriginal Japanese breeds designated in Japan as 天然記念物 or Natural Monuments. These 6 breeds are the Akita Inu, Kishu Ken, Shikoku Ken, Kai Ken, Hokkaido Ken, and the Shiba Inu. As the populations for many of these breeds have been decreasing every year, it is becoming increasingly critical to collect as much data as possible about the remaining breeding stock. This data will hopefully help the guardians of the breed to make the best possible plans for breeding and preservation. The Nihon Ken Pedigree Database Online was started in 2018 by Shigeru Kato with support from Laura Quadri, and originally tracked data for the Shikoku Ken. In 2019 it was expanded to accept data for all 6 breeds. The database is currently run by a worldwide group of Nihon Ken enthusiasts who volunteer their time to edit and administer the site.

While I will still be taking a peak at the site every now and again, and will be around to make sure it is still functioning properly, I am stepping down from its management and ownership. All inquiries and feedback regarding the database should now be made to nihonkenpedigreedatabase@gmail.com

I am certain the site will continue to be useful in tracking bloodlines and health issues in the Japanese breeds for years to come, and hope everyone continues to make good use of the data it provides.

Thylacine

2023-11-13T09:10:00.001+09:00

I'm having a bit of a personal laugh as I type this, because the universe seems to enjoy throwing me large clumps of irony recently. The latest ironic mass comes in the form of a little Kishu tiger. Yes, the breed has historically had brindle dogs, though the last one I saw or heard of was almost 20 years ago.

So of course as soon as I say I'm going to take a sabbatical and try to focus on other things for 2024, the first pup that pops out of my Kishu litter is a brindle. Now this is a non-pedigreed line of working Kishu that I'm breeding now, so anything is possible as far as some brindle ancestor sneaking in, but it's still very fascinating. A lot of NIPPO members and judges have expressed their interest and have visited to see the pups. I really like all three of the females in this litter, two whites, and the brindle, and I would have happily kept all or one of them as a working prospect. As it is, they will all go to working homes. The big white male kind of reminds me of great grandfather Baron, and he will go back with his mother Miya to the hunter that owns her, as part of their hunting pack. The remaining male with a lot of yogore-jiro (red tipping) will be going to a pet home in Tokyo.

I don't know that I'll get to see another brindle Kishu in my lifetime, but apparently they've traditionally appeared in white x red pairings. I spent the first few weeks of her life wanting to keep her, but now is not the time. So she will be staying close by, and I guess I'll get to see her mature, unlike her sisters who will be going to Okayama and Nara. It has been a joy to be able to breed a line of dogs solely focusing on working ability, temperament, and health, without being confined to an ever shrinking and possibly unviable gene pool that is not being selected for what I am trying to create. The breeding, pregnancy, birth, and everything else has been natural and easy (knock-on-wood). I'm just ironing out some kinks with the pups being very alert and reactive to sound, but it seems a lot of that is them picking up on their mother's wariness to being in a new environment (she doesn't live here, and I'm just raising the litter here).

I've had some luck with Hina having a very stable and predictable heat, just like last year (good to see in the Shikoku, where I think we're starting to see a trend in the other direction), so she has been bred again to Kikuoumaru, 2022 NIPPO Grand National RBOB. As he's out of Ayumi lines, he has quite a bit of hunt in him, which is why I did the pairing for Hina's first litter last year. I'm quite happy with the temperament of those pups, but all three ended up in show and pet homes. This time round, I have a few hunters waiting for pups from this litter, so hopefully it takes.

Hunting Kishu Litter

2023-10-10T18:43:00.003+09:00

I'll have a litter of Baron great-grand children born between the 15th and 17th of October. X-ray says 5 or 6 pups. Both parents are working boar dogs, bred for temperament and working ability. Both parents are out of Kishu lines, but are not pedigreed.

Sire is this white male, great temperament, fine with all people, and okay with other dogs as well. Can range a bit far when on scent, but can be hunted solo. Not a dedicated catch dog, but is a gritty bay dog. Weight 20kg

Dam is a yushoku Kishu, Karen's daughter (so Baron's granddaughter). She is more of a bay dog, close ranging. Will avoid strangers, like Karen does. My line of Kishu is very quiet at home. Baron never barked, and neither does Karen. Miya follows in this tradition of quiet at home, loud on boar.

All the pups from this litter have been reserved.

Change

2023-09-30T23:18:00.003+09:00

20 years ago the idea that I wanted to live a bit more ethically, no, naturally is a better word for it, hatched in my brain. I'd come back to Japan as a 20 year old, and having loved dogs and animals since I was a toddler, I got into rescue and had my first dog, a big Newfie mix. Being against factory farming, I was a vegetarian for a while, but that was a pretty difficult diet for a hard gainer living in early 2000's Japan, working a ridiculous 15 hour 6 day a week salary man job. I ended up eating a lot of tofu and salad, which was not sustainable.

I naturally lean toward being an extremist, but my extreme upbringing ingrained in me a natural safety switch. I grew up in an extremely religious and abusive environment, which has shaped the human I am in many ways, negatively and positively. The safety switch that kicks in when it comes to extremism is thanks to my childhood. Everything in moderation, even the good things, is my mantra. So, I stopped trying to be a vegetarian, and thought that if I was going to eat meat, I wanted it to be sourced as ethically as possible. I started spending my days off fishing, and eventually came up with the idea of hunting as a more economically rewarding way of supplying my protein.

I tend to do a lot of research, on everything that interests me really. I've got a naturally inquisitive mind, and looking into hunting and wildlife in the area I lived at the time told me that there were massive issues arising due to a wild boar population explosion. So I started looking into how they were hunted in Japan, and this lead me to dogs. This was perfect for me since living with dogs is something that I enjoy, and having a job we could do together would be even better. Looking into all the breeds I could hunt boar with, my conclusion was simple: what better breeds to hunt boar with than the working dogs that had evolved naturally in Japan, and were probably most suited to this climate and terrain?

This is how this journey started. 15+ years of my life have been dedicated to and revolved around the Nihon Ken and their preservation. Literally. I've spent my money, I've given it my time. It has brought so much in to my life, so many amazing people, and of course some unforgettable and legendary dogs. But on the flip side there has been a lot of sacrifice. My social life and romantic relationships have definitely suffered, and I always knew I would need to bring this into balance someday in order to be truly happy with the life I've created.

The past couple years have been rough. I've had a lot of questions about how to continue the preservation effort. It's a changing world. Legislation is making it more difficult in Japan for preservation breeders, and there are so many things about the world of show dogdom and breeding that I feel are missing the mark and do not actually help true preservation. It would take a small book to cover all the issues that we are up against, so I won't cover them all here, but after a lot of thought and many conversations I finally started to understand what needs to be done to move forward. I came up with a plan, but realized it would require me doubling down and giving even more of my time, energy, and finances to make it happen. I was prepared to do it, and started mapping the process. And then it struck me. I've started to lose my joy. The simple joys of enjoying life with my own dogs has taken a backseat to some greater preservation effort.

I love living with dogs, doing every day things with my canine partners in work and life. My current lifestyle has actually taken away a lot of my ability (and time) to do things with them. The truth is I spend a lot of every day replying to Nihon Ken correspondence from all over the world. There have also been large periods of time where I've had large numbers of dogs, 18 at one point I think, and while the preservation effort is surely helped by having breeders who take on large breeding programs like this, it is not for me. Give me a few good dogs that I can work with, and bring out the best in. That's my happiness.

Last year I started talking to a few close friends about this, and started making plans. I began letting my breeding program wind down slowly, and it was accelerated by the retirement of my great hope, Alice, earlier this year. The first eight months of 2023 were actually quite stellar. There was a lot of excitement for me in the idea of change. Many of my friends have commented on this life that I've crafted, they tell me that they envy me. I've worked hard for it, made a living doing things that I enjoy, in a pretty magical part of the world, but I need a break. I need some change. It's a pretty lonely life living out in the countryside, even with all the dogs keeping me company.

This July I celebrated my 44th birthday with friends and family. It was the best birthday I've had in my life, and truly the happiest I've ever been. As life gives and takes away, the months since have been some of the roughest I've ever faced, but I'm trying to power through and get to next year. I have found great homes for my retired dogs and rescues, and if all goes well there will be a litter of Baron great grand children born here at my house in a few weeks. They should be some pretty awesome working pups. I will also possibly do one last Shikoku litter with Hina when she comes in heat in November, and after that I will be shutting down my breeding program. I plan to enjoy this hunting season with my dogs and my friends, and next year I will probably be traveling a lot and maybe doing some writing.

I don't have any definitive plans for what I will be doing, or where I will be in the future. I can't say this is the end of my Nihon Ken journey, but it may be. For now I'm just going to call it a sabbatical, and enjoy what comes. I'll still blog as I have time, and when there are things to talk about. Thank you all for being here on this journey with me. It's been a pleasure and a privilege.

Simple and Beautiful

2023-09-23T21:21:00.002+09:00

NIPPO Microchips

2023-08-27T10:52:00.002+09:00

On August 11th NIPPO announced through its website that they will now require all Honbusho winners (NIPPO's version of a BIS at a regional show) and all winners at the NIPPO Grand National to provide proof of microchip registration. This is in line with new national regulations that came into effect on June 1st of 2022 requiring that all dogs being sold in Japan be microchipped.

While this would not mean that all NIPPO dogs have to be microchipped by law, since many NIPPO dogs come from a non-commercial setting, or were born before the law came into effect, I think this is a positive move by NIPPO. It shows that the organization is moving forward, beyond what is required by law, for the welfare of their dogs. I believe NIPPO is the first canine registry in Japan to require this for show results, and without giving anything away, NIPPO will be making more moves in the future as part of a proactive and less conservative approach to changes in the world of dogdom. There will hopefully be some more news out of NIPPO HQ in the new future that I will be able to share here.

These new rules will come into effect from this upcoming show season, and will apply to this year's grand national as well.

The Functional Dog

2023-08-24T21:00:00.002+09:00

Inside the growing movement to breed healthier, friendlier dogs - National Geographic

There was a great article in the National Geographic the other day, about the Functional Dog Collaborative. I've been following the FDC for some time now. I'm in their Facebook group, and have listened to all their podcasts. Some more than once. Personally, I believe this is the future of canine breeding.

The Japanese breeds have a host of issues looming on the horizon: small gene pools, lack of health testing in their country of origin, and extreme selection for aesthetics while traits like working ability and temperament are being left behind. The Nihon Ken are also part of the larger purebred dog world, that has its own issues, and I've been wrestling with serious questions for several years now. How do we move forward with the preservation effort? What do I consider ethical breeding? How can we deal with health and temperamental issues in an ever shrinking population with very little hope for more genetic diversity? What part do I want to play in this world?

In the grand scheme of things, I think we're running into a few problems in the breeding world. One is that 'purebred' dog breeding with no outcrossing is essentially breeding into a wall. All breeds are hurtling toward it, some slower than others, but that wall is ever looming. As a breeder I feel like I'm playing a game of whack-a-mole, where there are more and more moles, and they will get faster and faster.

I think another big issue with purebred dog breeding is what this article points out: the vast majority of dogs today will be pets. They will essentially be lapdogs, with maybe some being a bit more active if they are owned by people who like to hike etc. But almost all our dog breeds are heritage breeds, that were bred for a purpose that they are no longer used for. They were essentially selected to do one thing (like herding for example), but now we want them to sit on a couch. And that has consequences.

Breeding dogs to be good pets

Apart from toy breeds bred specifically as lap dogs, many breeds have backgrounds as working dogs: herding, guarding, hunting, and so on. But today, the primary purpose of dogs, especially in western countries, is as pets.

Yet few people breed dogs for this purpose, according to Joyce Briggs, treasurer of the Functional Dog Collaborative, a New Hampshire-based nonprofit. “The profile of the successful, really well-balanced family dog is not being looked at as a category,” says Briggs.

We have this issue with the Nihon Ken as well. They are a hunting breed, and preservation based breeding means we keep them that way. We preserve the hunt in these dogs. That's not a problem for me, since I'm a hunter, and that's why I got into these dogs in the first place. But the vast majority of Nihon Ken owners today are pet owners, with second place coming to show breeders. Basically almost no one is actually breeding toward companion dogs. Show breeders are breeding toward a show type and temperament, and hunters toward working ability. You see the disconnect there. I think therein lies a lot of the 'problems' I hear about in Nihon Ken temperament from first time owners. They have their quirks due to what they have been and are still being selected for.

What do we do about this? I'm not quite sure. It's a difficult question, with a lot of difficult answers that we may not be ready to hear. But I would suggest that if you haven't, give the FDC's podcasts a listen. If nothing else, you will definitely pick up some really cool science on the breeding of dogs. I've learned a lot, and hope you do too.