The Akita is a strong and striking member of the Working Group. First recognized by the AKC in 1972, this ancient breed has deep roots in its native Japan. For centuries, the Japanese have appreciated the Akita's loyalty and courage. Bred to hunt in the mountains of northern Japan, this breed eventually became a symbol of protection and prosperity.
Eventually, a fascination with dogfighting led to cross-breeding with various European breeds. The goal was to increase the size of these native dogs. However, this watered down the breed’s distinctive, spitz-type features, characterized by small, erect triangular eyes and a prominently curled tail. Misbehaving ears were the least of the problems facing Akita lovers as World War II closed in. While the Japanese government ordered all non-combat dogs to be destroyed, the military paid a premium for Akitas. They wanted to use the dogs’ thick, warm coats to line officers’ uniforms. To avoid that fate, some desperate owners turned their dogs loose in the hopes they might survive on their own, or crossbred them with German Shepherd Dogs, which were spared from culling because of their military role.
But at least one dog lover decided to keep two prized purebred Akitas alive in a shed on his remote mountain property – even as his family struggled to find food to feed themselves. Mitsubishi engineer Morie Sawataishi got his first Akita in 1944 while living with his wife and young children in rural Hachimantai. Sawataishi spent his career building power plants in Japan’s brutally harsh snow country. Perhaps not coincidentally, he was drawn to those Akitas that demonstrated kisho, or spirit”– a kind of self-determined, focused energy. The handful of postwar breeders in Japan also had to have kisho. Like Sawataishi, they carefully worked to rebuild their war-battered breed by planning litters and organizing dog shows.
But good intentions weren’t the only requirement for the restoration of the Akita. With so few Akitas remaining, breeders had to cross their dogs with outside dogs to expand the gene pool. Some Japanese breeders turned to the Ichinoseki line, named for a wealthy landowner whose dogs carried the blood of the massive and impressive Tosa Inu. That native fighting dog had been crossed with Mastiffs and Bulldogs in the 1850s, when Japan opened to the West.
Other breeders chose the Dewa line. That family incorporated the German Shepherd Dog crosses popular during both World Wars. Its most famous dog, Kongo-Go, soon became one of most popular studs of the postwar era, advertised as a “national treasure.”
Japanese breeders aimed to return the Akita to its original spitz type, with small, triangular ears and eyes like a fox’s. But the Dewa dogs – which had caught the notice of American GIs stationed in Japan during the postwar occupation – resisted this return to Japanese type. Instead, these dogs, with their heavier heads and bodies, resembled bears more than foxes.
The differences in the two Akita lines soon became an international one. Imported to the United States in significant numbers in the 1950s, the Kongo-Go-style dogs became popular here, so much so that they began to diverge significantly from their Japanese counterparts. (The very first Akitas in America belonged to Helen Keller, who was gifted with an Akita pup, Kamikaze Go in the late 1930s.)
Welcome to the Stamford Rail, er, Dog Trail! Enjoy exploring this lovely trail and discover a cache series dedicated to the loyal, long-snouted domesticated mammal so central to mankind's history, sport, legend and friendship.
The cache series is winter friendly and can be done on foot or bike, and yes, dogs are welcome. Park in Stamford and start your journey southward.