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From my Akita Dog album (5)
Tamakumo (or Tamagumo)
Series (1)
By Mutsuo Okada
Tamakumo-gou. Whelped at the Mio (or Mitsuo) Kennel of Mr. Touei (or Katsumasa) Mio (or Mitsuo) of Tokyo on December 13, 1950. Tamakumo was a black brindle. His owner was the late Mr. Ryousuki Tadamoto of Hongou in Tokyo.
His pedigree is shown in pedigree 1.
I believe that one of the prominent bloodlines of the Akita dogs that would follow Goroumaru in second place today would be Tamakumo . However, depending on one's viewpoint, one could also say that influx from the bloodline of Tamakumo was greater than that of Goroumaru. Tamakumo was an outstanding dog with Goroumaru that produced two main bloodlines of the Akita dog.
I would also include the bloodline of Hakuhou-gou , the main bloodline of Akikyou, as the outstanding male dog of a third main bloodline. The bloodline of Hakuhou was also blended into the bloodlines of Goroumaru and Tamakumo.
Tamakumo-gou's sire was Arawashi-gou that was mentioned in the February issue of this journal (Aiken Journal 268:62-63, 1982). Tamakumo's dam was Sankatsu-gou. She was owned by the late Mr. Touei Mio of Hongou, who owned a bicycle shop.
Littermates of Tamakumo were Sachinishiki (the first winner of Akikyou's Gold Medal), Sachitorame (sixth place winner of the Akikyou's Fourth Headquarters Show) and Sachiharume-go. All of his littermates had names that began with "Sachi," except for " Tamakumo ." His owner, Mr. Ryousuke Tadamoto , was known as the tamaya (jeweler) in Hongou, where he was an optician of a large establishment. Tamakumo was given an unusual name, "Gankyo-no- tama -ga- kumo ru" ("Cloudy Jewel"). At first, such a name was looked upon as being strange. However, as Tamakumo gained in popularity, his name came to be regarded as being a fine name after all. This was strange to me indeed.
Details given on the whelping of Tamakumo in another publication by Mr. Katsusuke Ishihara [Ishihara, K., "Omoide No Akitainu, Tamakumo-gou " ("My Memories of The Akita Dog, Tamakumo-gou "), Akitainu, pp. 244-249, published on 11/20/1969, Seibundou Shinkousha, Tokyo, Japan] led to Tamakumo to become a household word in Akita dog circles. According to Mr. Ishihara, Arawashi did not seem interested in breeding with Sankatsu at first. As one was about to give up in despair and leave, Arawashi suddenly pursued Sankatsu to the gate and mounted her. Mr. Ishihara took this opportunity to assist, which let to a successful breeding. A stroke of luck.
My mentor, the late Mr. Hyouemon Kyouno , also thought highly of both Goroumaru and Tamakumo when these dogs in their waka-inu ( young dog between 10 to 18 months in age ) stage. The Kongou line was at its peak of popularity then. Tamakumo was ignored and placed in the *Junyuu (Good) class. Mr. Kyouno, who was one of the leading figures at Nippo prior to the war, was disappointed and said, "I do not like Nippo's way of judging." At the Akikyou's Third Headquarters Show in December 1951, Tamakumo placed seventh, which was the lowest rank of the winning dogs. Tamakumo was shown as one of the reference dogs at later Akikyou shows. His popularity came slowly. When the famous bitch, Kiyohime-gou came along, the public's attitude changed. At the Akikyou's Sixth Headquarters Show, Kiyohime-gou , after competing against many male dogs, become the first bitch historically to win over all dogs in a headquarters show. Prior to this time, she had been bred to Shouryu (Kongou x Tachibana) and had produced Dainikokuryuu-go, Asashiyo and Akashi. Results were quite different when Kiyohime was bred to Tamakumo . Mr. Kyouno accompanied Mr. Tamejirou Ishibashi during this breeding to choose a puppy in place of a stud fee. They picked out a white female out of the resulting litter and sent her to the jeweler (Mr. Tadamoto). Unfortunately, this female soon died at eight months of age from distemper. This dog was often compared with Tamakumo when they were exercised together. She was said to have been an excellent dog. At the time, Mr. Ishibashi acquired a brindle female called Kiyome-go, which later produced the famous Daiunme-gou.
Breeding of Tamakumo to Kiyohime also produced the white males, Hakuun and Tamakiyo-g ou on October 1953. Both dogs did well at the dog shows.
Tamakumo's first offspring, Ikoma-gou, a female brindle, was born on March 1953, and placed in the overall class at the Akikou's Eight Headquarters Show. Since this was during the reign of the Kongou line, Tamakumo did not draw much attention. However, more dog breeders in Tokyo began to use Tamakumo toward the late 1950s to produce many excellent dogs. This led to higher attendance at dog shows. Goroumaru's first son, Tanihibiki , and Tamakumo soon divided the Tokyo Akita dog world into two groups. Akikyou used the Tamakumo and Tanihibiki lines. Tamakumo won first place in the overall class at the Akiho's Southern Akita Regional Show in 1954. He won first place and also the Meiyoushou at the Akiho's headquarters show.
Tamakumo was bred to Akemi-gou, the daughter of Fudou-gou ( Goroumaru x Yohei) of Mr. Masutarou Itou of Senboku. Only females came from this litter. These became the foundation dogs of Akiho such as Tamakiyo (dam of Azumazakura), Wakasa (Unjyou's dam), Tamame ((Hachiryuu's dam) and Meigyoku-gou , etc.
Tamkumo was not shown from this time on as a reference dog, although he was still used from breeding under the loving care of Mr. and Mrs. Tadamoto. Tamakumo was last shown on November 23, 1955 at the large dog show that was sponsored by the Cultural Properties Preservation Committee. He was five years old then. With the passing of years he began to show grayish white hairs on his face which added to his elegant features. His longevity almost matched that of his sire, Arawashi-gou . He lived for about thirteen years. Could this be attributed to the rigorous training of his earlier years? His outstanding features when compared to dogs of the Kongou line were a tight body, the distinguishable two layers of the bristle and soft coats and the better body construction. His bloodline contributed toward the rapid progress of the Akita dog. However, some of his offspring did have their faults. Tamakumo had a weak temperament and his bark was annoying. In the next issue, I will discuss Tamakumo's bloodline.
Reference: Aiken Journal 272:64-65, (June) 1982, Shinjournal-sha, Tokyo, Japan.
*Five different grades used at the Japanese dog shows.
1. Tokuyuu (Superior), awarded to senior dogs only.
2. Yuushyuu (Excellent).
3. Junyyuu (Good).
4. Nintei (Satisfactory).
5. Shikkaku (Disqualification).
Note: Bold print and underlined words were added by the translator. Names of persons and dogs in bold print are in enclosed photographs. Almost all of these photographs are from other articles of Mr. Okada and a few are from other sources.
Translated by Tatsuo Kimura with permission from Mr. Mutsuo Okada.
(Appeared January/February 2005 Akita World)
