Akita dogs’ popularity down in Japan (Newspaper Article & My Essay)

Akita dogs’ popularity down in Japan, surging overseas秋田犬、海外人気が急上昇
(週刊ST 2018/5/11)

Hollywood actor Richard Gere, French film star Alain Delon and Russia's figure skating sensation Alina Zagitova have something in common: They adore Akita dogs.

And they're not alone. In recent years, foreign ownership of one of Japan's most famous indigenous breed(在来種)s has skyrocketed, outstrip(~を抜く)ping domestic demand for the fluffy, perky-eared(耳がピンとした) pooch(犬)es. Yamaguchi said in his garden in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture.

The number of Akitas registered by overseas owners jumped from just 33 in 2005 to 359 in 2013, and then 3,967 in 2017.

Yamaguchi has around 20 at any given time(常時), many of them tiny fluff-ball puppies.

Originally a hunting breed(もとは狩猟犬で), Akitas emerged from the northern prefecture of the same name. They are large, around 60 to 70 cm tall at the shoulders(肩の部分で測った身長が60-70cmである) and between 40 to 50 kg, with prominent(突き出した) ears and deep-set eyes(くぼんだ目).

Local ownership of Akitas has been on the decline(減少して), 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.

Foreign owners have picked up the slack(不足を補っている), 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 each. Most of his clients are from the United States, Russia and China, but he has also flown to France, Egypt, Kuwait and Indonesia.

“Akita dogs are responsive(反応が良い). That's their most attractive feature,” Yamaguchi said. “They understand how you feel just by being near you(人の近くにいるだけで人の気持ちが分かる). And they're loyal.”

That faithful character is central to the 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, even a decade after his master's death.

Hachiko is commemorated(しのばれている) 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(リチャードギア主演で).

Other famous Akita admirers include deaf-blind political activist Helen Keller, who brought one back to the U.S., and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who received one as a gift from the Akita governor.

In China, the dogs have become so sought-after(人気の) that some pet shops began selling “fake Akitas” with falsified(偽の) pedigree certificates(血統書), Kawakita said.

Yamaguchi hopes the popularity won't simply be a fad(流行). He said owners in Japan “have a big responsibility” to keep the Akita breed alive.

“Dogs will not thrive(繁栄する) if the country of origin stops producing them,” he said. (AFP-Jiji)

(My Essay)

Japanese people thank Japanese dog lovers in foreign countries. They contribute to the thriving of Japanese dogs that have not been popular in Japan.

When Japan was a premodern country, dogs were regarded as laborers. They were watchdogs to keep family safe from thieves, kept an eye on cows so that they did not escape from rice fields, and carried heavy objects. For these purposes, strong, big, and healthy dogs were chosen.

However, after mechanization, dogs do not need to do these jobs. Dog are required to be pretty pets. As many kinds of dogs are increasingly imported from foreign countries, dogs originated in Japan have lost popularity. Dogs bred in foreign countries are prettier, more loyal to owners, and fit more to the modern lifestyle. Japan failed in breeding dogs in that way. Probably it is not because of lack of technologies, but also because of their belief that human beings should not change the nature.

Big dogs do not fit the Japanese modern lifestyle. Houses are built close to each other, and many people are concerned about noise. People are so busy that they cannot walk dogs every day. Gardens and rooms are too narrow for dogs to run freely. People’s income has dropped during the recent economic recession, and they cannot afford food for big dogs. Cats are gaining popularity because they are smaller and eat less, and need less time to take care of.

I have a cat of American origin, and I chose the type because it is well known as active and obedient to the owners. Japanese cars have not been bred to have specific characters, and are difficult to predict their characters before they grow up.