Where does the Shiba Inu hunting dog come from? Learn about the Japanese breed’s birth
One woman’s research has sparked interest in the heritage of Shiba Inus and local revitalisation in the city where the first one lived
Shibas are popular worldwide as a breed of hunting dog from Japan, but for tourists deplaning at Hagi-Iwami Airport in Masuda, Shimane prefecture, the dozen or so canines greeting them are like little rock stars.
“So cute!” the visitors exclaim, smiling while petting and snapping photos of the alert, playful dogs known for their foxlike faces.
Their owners explain that the city is the breed’s birthplace. Tracing their pedigrees back reveals that nearly all of these dogs descend from Ishi Go, a hunting dog often considered the father of the modern Shiba Inu breed.
It was the dedicated research of Mayumi Kawabe, 68, from Gotsu, Shimane, who, while grieving the loss of her beloved dog who died in September 2014, rediscovered this buried history and brought it to the world’s attention.
Concerned about his wife’s long depression after the dog’s death, Kawabe’s husband showed her a clipping from a local newspaper introducing the rare San’in Shiba Inu breed, which she had never heard of.