Man’s best friend
> Japan’s Akita dogs melt the hearts of both local and foreign fans
‘natural treasures’ by the government.
But local ownership has been on the decline, with no more than 3,000 puppies registered each year over the last decade, from a peak of 40,000 in the 1970s.
“The housing situation in Japan is affecting” the number of people who can own dogs as large as Akitas, said Kosuke Kawakita, head of the Akita dog preservation association’s Tokyo branch.
“There are many people who want to own one, but they say they cannot because of a ‘no pet’ policy at their apartment, or because they live in a small place.”
Foreign owners have picked up the slack, with Yamaguchi saying he travels overseas about 20 times a year to personally deliver Akitas to their new owners.
His dogs sell for around 200,000 yen (RM7,182) each, and most of his clients are from the United States, Russia and China, though he has also flown to France, Egypt, Kuwait and Indonesia to make sure owners have a proper home for their puppies.
“Akita dogs are responsive. That’s their most attractive feature,” Yamaguchi said.
“They understand how you feel just by being near you. And they’re loyal.”
The dog’s faithful character is central to the decades-old true story of Hachiko, an Akita who in the 1920s waited patiently each day at Tokyo’s Shibuya station for his master to return from work.
One day, his owner passed away while teaching at the Imperial University of Tokyo, but the faithful pet waited for him at the same station for the next decade.
Hachiko is commemorated in a statue outside the station, as well as elsewhere in Tokyo, and his story was turned into a Hollywood film in 2009, starring Gere as the professor.
“The Akita became a very popular dog” overseas after the movie came out, said Kawakita, who has owned more than 30 Akitas since falling in love with them as a teenager.
Other famous Akita admirers have also raised the pooches’ profile overseas, including deafblind political activist Helen Keller who brought one back to America, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who received a dog as a gift from the Akita governor.
In China, the dogs have become so sought after that some pet shops began selling ‘fake Akitas’ with falsified pedigree certificates, Kawakita said, adding that dogs with reddish fur were usually the most desirable for foreign owners.
Yamaguchi is delighted to see the dogs gain overseas fans, but hopes the popularity won’t be simply a fad.
“I don’t want the boom of Akita dogs to be a passing trend. I want it to continue,” he said.
And for that to happen, he said, owners in Japan “have a big responsibility” to keep the Akita breed alive.
“Dogs will not thrive if the country of origin stops producing them,” he said. – AFP Relaxnews