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AIKEN JOURNAL 497:24-27, MARCH 2001, SHIN-JOURNAL-SHA, TOKYO, JAPAN.

THE DEWA LINE FROM ITS PLACE OF ORIGIN IN ODATE

Akitainu Kaiseki 5 (An Analysis of The Akita Dogs, Part 5)
By Mutsuo Okada

Kongo-go of the Dewa line went from Odate to Tokyo and caused the Akita dog boom. The Dewa line was classified in the following manner: Dewa to Dewawaka to Taishu to Kongo, Dewa also produced Raiden. Raiden produced the following famous dogs, Daini-Dewa, Tetsu (Kuorgane, Magane) and Odate. The owners of these dogs were influential dog businessmen. Daini-Dewa came to Tokyo to Mr. Yozaburo Ito, who later sold this dog to the Washington Chikukenten (Dog Store). Daini-Dewa’s offspring, Senko, and Odate’go’s offspring, Izumi-no-Kin were purchased by Mr. Yugoro Izumi. These dogs also became famous. The Dewa line was being praised during its golden age while the up and coming Ichinoseki line was being scorned.

Mr. Takichi Ichinoseki, who was the manager of the Ichinoseki Kennel passed away in 1947 (22nd year of Showa) when the Ichinoseki Kennel did not have any stud dogs. Their borrowing Tsubaki-goma )(Ichinoseki-goma) from theTsubaki Village to revive the line was discussed in Part 4. Tsubaki-goma-go was a difficult dog to breed, especially to the large females. Previous attempts to breed Tsubaki-goma were not successful. However, as mentioned in Part 4, the breeding of Tsubaki-goma-go that occurred while enroute to the Ichinoseki Kennel was successful. Out of this breeding came Goromaru, Jiromaru and Daisan-Maruyama. Tsubaki-goma-go’s breeding to Tamazakura at the Ichinoseki Kennel produced litter mates, Terukaze (that went to Mr. Ishiyama of Haneda in Tokyo) and Long-go, (a female that won first place at the Akiho’s 13th Headquarters Show). Matsukaze-go, the daughter of Ichinoseki-aka-go produced Daini-jogetsu-go (Dam of Senzan) that received the Ministry of Education Medal at the 23rd Spring Headquarters Show of 1950 (25th year of Showa).

At the kennel of Mr. Tomiharu (Tomiji) Sasaki in Noshiro, Tsubaki-goma-go was bred to Komatsume to produce a litter with Tsukasa, Goma-iwa and Tamaizumi. However, the largest number of famous Akita dogs of this time came from the Dewa line. I will now do an analysis on Dewa-go, the ancestor of the Dewa line that became a sensation nationwide. I have included three photographs of Dewa-go. His breeder was Mr. Yozaburo Ito. Dewa-go was born in 1941 (in the 16th year of Showa) and won in the wakainu (10 to 18 months) group in the large Japanese dog class at the Nippo’s 8th Headquarters Show. Although his pedigree was registered as being out of Akidate and Tama, this is questionable. Rumor has it that the bloodline of Tachi is included. I will therefore include a discussion on Tachi-go.

Tachi was born in May 1937 (12th year of Showa). Nippo Registry No. 239. Sire: Iwa (from Niigata. Pedigree unknown). Dam: Hatsu (from Tokyo. Pedigree unknown). The breeder was said to be Mr. Toyoji Kasei (Kanari). Tachi-go received the Tokyo Governor’s Award at the 8th Nippo’s Headquarters Show. However, Mr. Yonekichi Hiraiwa (known for his research on dogs and wolves), who was the head judge at that show, wrote in his critique, “Tachi is a huge dog and has the appearance of the dog of a different breed.” Mr. Kizo (Yoshizo) Nagai. a dog dealer from Odate with the kennel name, Sakura-kan, borrowed Tachi to increase the size of his Akita dogs. Akita dogs with less than 2 shaku (60.6 cm; 23.9 inches) in height were common at that time. Since Tachi did not have a reputation in Odate, many breeders omitted his name from their pedigrees. Although they wanted to increase the height of their Akita dogs, the reputation of Tachi not appearing as a true Akita dog, led this to happen. Although the name of Tachi has also been omitted from the pedigree of Dewa, some evidence seems to indicate that Dewa’s dam was the daughter of Tachi (Mr. Ishihara believed that more of Tachi’s blood was included in Dewa’s pedigree.). One could say that Dewa inherited the appearance of Tachi. According to Mr. Ryonosuke Hiraizumi, who passed away last year (2000), “Dewa had the coat color of burnt goma (sesame). His face had the chocolate color. This created quite a fuss by those who say that this was not the color of the true Akita dog. Although the head is large, the red color is faded and lacks the wakenteki shibumi (elegant simplicity of the Japanese dog) and the soboku (artlessness). His height and body size are sufficient. He is energetic. His skin does not show during the molting period.” This was a dog cloaked in mystery. Every animal species have their coat colors. The coat color of Tachi was far from that of a Japanese dog. His muddy coat color was passed on to Dewa and his descendants. When the Akita dog went through the period of mixed breeding, the muddy color of the Dewa line was perpetuated throughout the restoration process. Tachi’s history on how he came about and the Dewa line were discussed in my Keito Tokuhon, Akitainu (Akita Dog Pedigrees). I have also discussed with a photograph in another publication last year (2000) of Maru-go (68 cm; 26.8 inches) that is believed to be the ancestor of Tachi.

It has been reported that toward the end of the war, Dewa was conscripted for use as a military dog and was killed by a bomb. However, according to Mr. Ishihara, Dewa survived the war, and Mr. Yozaburo Ito saw this dog at a home in Nagoya. He was convinced this was Dewa. Mr. Hirokichi Saito reported in a symposiumj in the 1952 (27th year of Showa) issue of the Aiken no Tomo dog magazine that he saw Dewa as a wakainu (10 to 18 months) when Dewa received a prize at the Nippo’s 10th Headquarters Show, (Page 25) Mr. Saito saw brindle spots (in the white area in the forelegs) of Dewa. Coat colors of the Dewa line were difficult to describe. Until 1955 (30th year of Showa) although Dewa was registered as a brindle, the brindle coat disappeared as the dog became older. Dogs with the reverse pattern were seen also. I have seen such dogs in Yuri-gun in Akita. Dewa’s grandson, Odate-go, at certain times of the year, led one to question whether he was a brindle. Raiden, the son of Dewa, was born during the war in 1944 (19th year of Showa). His breeder was Mr. Sadao Sato of Okuzu? Village in Kita-Akita-gun (Northern Akita-gun). Raiden survived the war due to a better availability of food under the care of Mr. Matsutaro Hasebe (The man with the beard) of the Hanaoka Mines. According to Mr. Ryonosuke Hiraizumi, (although no photograph is available of Raiden) Raiden was a black brindle that was more than 2 shaku 3 sun (69.7 cm; 27.4 inches) tall. His legs were narrow and long. He had a short coat. His temperament was poor. His dam, Tamahime, according to her pedigree had the bloodline of Ichinoseki-tora. This may be the source of her bad temperament. The mayor of Okuzu Village of that time was Mr. Ichi Aratani, who was also the manager of a gold mine there. His Kinzan-so (Gold Mine Villa) Kennel produced many ancestor dogs of the Ichinoseki line. Mr. Aratani was also a relative of Mr. Ichinoseki. He also raised Yama-go (a white dog). From Yama came Toshi-go ( dam of Tsubaki-goma (Ichinoseki-goma the sire of Goromaru).

From Raiden came, Daini-Dewa-go (dam: Wakatorame-go), Tetsu (Kurogane) (dam: Karl) and Odate (dam: Sakura). Daini-Dewa was used from an early age by Mr.Yozaburo Ito and produced in succession Senko-go, Takataro (that went to Osaka), Kin (that went to Nagoya) and Kojin (that went to Nagoya). Daini-Dewa was purchased by Mr. Ranjiro Sawabe of the Washington Pet Dog Store in Nihonbashi in Tokyo that I have mentioned earlier.. According to Mr. Sawabe, the seller of Daini-Dewa made a fortune of more than 40,000 yen ( more than 40,000 /360 = $111) in paper money that he packed into a knapsack and returned to Odate., Odate won first place at the Akikyo’s First Headquaretrs Show, Daini-Dewa in second place and Kongo in third place in the seiken (30 months and up) class.

As for the Ichinoseki line, Shintora went to Osaka and died early. Since Goromaru was not yet in the forefront coat colors of the Dewa line were seen nationwide. Adding to this, their descendants won consecutively at the dog shows. Furthermore, the Dewa line gained more prestige when many owners of the famous pet dog stores became owners of these dogs. In Tokyo one such owner was Mr. Heihachi Hashimoto.

After Daini-Dewa came Mr. Yugoro Izumi of the Senko-en Kennel with Senko (Daini-Dewa x Hikei-aka), Mr. Yozaburo Ito with Tetsu-go (Kurogane-go) (Raiden x Karl), (Page 26) and Mr. Yugogo Izumi with Izumi-no-Kin (Odate x Tamafuji) again were great influences. Before Senko was sold out of Akita, one could say he was bred to all of the females in and around Odate. Odate-go’s offspring, Kokuryu-go (Black Dragon) (dam: Toratetsu (Daini-Dewa x Asahi) was owned by Mr. Chobe Ito and advertised in the Aiken no Tomo magazine. During the Hachi-ko Festivals I remember seeing Kokuyru with many of his offspring being shown in the department stores in Shibuya. Izumi-no-kin’s offspring, Kokyryu of Takayu, was one of his dogs advertised by Mr. Yusuke Takahashi from Southern Akita. Mr. Takahashi was a dog dealer from prewar days. Mr. Taka-Yu (Yusuke Takahashi) also owned many other dogs and advertised them monthly in dog magazines. After the war, whenever he packed money in his knapsack to go to Odate to purchase dogs, people in Odate were on the watch to “see him empty his knapsack.”

Dogs of the Dewa line owned by the influential were dogs with the muddy coat inherited by their descendants. The red and white coats of the Ichinoseki line were rarely seen. With the coming of Goromaru and Tamakumo, the muddy coat began to disappear in the Kanto (Ibaraki, Tochigi, gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo and Kanagawa) area. Puppies with muddy coats from females of the Dewa line were discarded and those with red, brindle and white coats began to be selected. These dogs were then bred to dogs of the Ichinoseki line. Coat colors went through a complete change by the time of the second generation.

Odate, the place of the origin of the Akita dog, was soon behind the times.

Mr. Funakoshi, the owner of Goromaru who lived in Akita City, soon dissociated himself from Odate and joined the newly established Akikyo in Tokyo. He began to deal with Akita dogs in Tokyo. Those in Odate who were still spellbound by Odate as the place of origin of the Akita dog and who continued to limit themselves to breeding dogs of the Dewa line soon found themselves left behind. Beginners and amateurs who believed that anything out of Odate, the place of origin of the Akita dog, was supreme were the only customers for the dogs in Odate.

However, to keep up with the trend of the times, even the foregoing individuals began to dissociate themselves from their devotion to the factions in Odate. I will now present some photographs of the types of Akita dogs from the Odate area up to 1953 (28th year of Showa). Akiho underwent a continuous state of separations with names of Akita dog organizations such as the Akihokyo, (Page 27), Ogata Akitainu (Large Type Akita Dog) or the Shogyo Kumiai (Mercantile Association). These organizations combined and separated at a rapid rate. Selling Akita dogs were their goals and their judges were like salesmen. A dog that was ranked high in Odate would then be advertised to be sold. That same dog would then be dropped to a lower place at the next show and another Akita dog that was from Odate would be placed higher at the same show. This resulted in much confusion and discontent among dog owners.. Such judges were numerous. At the Akikyo in Tokyo, Mr. Katsusuke Ishihara, as a judge had the sole power to not resort to any favoritism. Any dog that did not meet the goal of Akikyo to revive the Japanese dog type was rejected and those meeting his approval were placed. This led to a more rapid attainment of uniformity in the Akita dogs at Akikyo.

The Goromaru line centered in Tokyo soon spread throughout the Kanto area. Odate was almost completely shut out. Their desire to find an outlet in the Kansai (Kyoto-Osaka) area by their resorting to some unusual business methods is interesting indeed. Mr. Naoto Kajiwara, the vice chairman of the Akiho and founder of Akiho’s branch in Osaka who passed away last year (2000), has written about this confusing situation in his book (My Thoughts on the Akita Dog). He states that his ire over this questionable practice of judging did not cease.

Another influential person was Mr. Soshichi Saito from the town of Hayakuchi near Odate. He became a dog dealer with hid operations centered on Daini-Terunishiki of the Ichinoseki line soon after the war. He also had an outlet before the war through Mr. Takeo Umeda of Ota-ku in Tokyo. He used this as a means to send many dogs to Ota-ku. The previously mentioned Terukaze-go (Tsubaki-goma x Tamazakura), Arakaze-go (Daini-Terunishiki x Kokuriyama) and Tiger-go, the huge grandson of Daini-Dewa were among these that were sent to Tokyo. He soon opened his Saito Seibutsuten (Saito’s Animal Store) in the Kansai (Kyoto-Osaka) area. Every now and then he also sold some of his Akita dogs in Yuzawa. The present family of Mr. Shichiroemon Saito where Hachi-ko was born is related to Mr. Saito.

People of the postwar period that influenced the Akita dog world.

Mr. Heihachi Hashimoto (owner of Kongo) died early. About 4 to 5 years ago (1996 to 1997) Mr. Yozauro Ito, Mr. yugoro Izumi and Mr. Shoshichi Saito are said to have also passed away. (All of these gentlemen have not been seen much since 1966 (40th year of Showa)). A year ago (2000) the chairman of Akiho,Mr. Ryonosuke Hiraizumi (breeder of Kongo) and the vice chairman of Akiho, Mr. Naoto Kajiwara passed away. As I look back and look at their photographs, it seems as if this is now an empty dream.

According to Mr. Masaru Tanaka, a former chairman of Akiho, Mr. Ito routinely drank a cup of sake before going out on his morning exercises with his dog. One day he collapsed on his way home but was able to reach home. Mr. Tanaka also told me that all of his acquaintances associated with dogs have also passed away. I often reminisce about my youth. As I have mentioned in Part 1, Mr. Tamejiro Ishibashi (now also deceased)of Yuzawa is currently about the only person with whom I can enjoy a conversation that go back to those days. After Mr. Ishibashi happened to see Izumi-no-Kin in Odate, he told me, “Izumi-no-Kin is a panther. His eyes are also kinkira?” This happened about a decade ago and I recalled this when I was looking at the photograph of Izumi-no-kin. I took a photograph of Izumi-no-kin when he was being shown as one of the reference dogs at one of the Nippo’s shows (probably in 1952 (27th year of Showa)). After I had taken a photograph of this dog, a 7 or 8 year old girl pulled and twisted the tail of Izumi-no-kin. I said to myself, “That was a dangerous thing to do!” However, Izumi-no-kin did nothing. This is one of my recollections.

Look up term , kinkira in hiragana dictionary.

  Akihokyo (Akitainu Hozon Kyokai) was a dog organization that separated from Akiho for a while but rejoined with Akiho after a few years.

Words in italics added by the translator.

Words in bold italics within parentheses refer to page in the Japanese text.

Translated by Tatsuo Kimura with permission from Mr. Mutsuo Okada for educational purposes.

Reference: Okada, Mutsuo, Akitainu Kaiseki, 5, (“An Analysis of The Akita Dogs, Part 5”),” 497:24-27, March 2001, Shin-Journal-sha, Tokyo , Japan .

  Note: Mr. Okada through more than fifty years of study into the history of the Akita dog since his high school days and his close association with the late Mr. Hyoemon Kyono of Yuzawa in Akita and other Akita dog pioneers is able to give us details of many of Akita dogs with hundreds of photographs that no other person in the Akita dog world had their access to tell us about them. Mr. Okada also, for the first time, reveals to us names of people in the Akita dog world in Japan who were influential in directing the course of breeding the Akita dog toward what they believe to be of the Japanese dog type. Some of these people were informed while others were in almost solely for the enjoyment of showing them and winning. For many years the names of people who were involved with the Akita dogs during the earlier years were unknown until Mr. Okada has revealed them to us.

11/15/2006. Reedited 3/3/2008.