"During my childhood, large red Japanese dogs with erect ears were raised by almost every household in certain regions in my home prefecture of Yamagata." [Read more]

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OFFICIAL JUDGE: Dr. Shin-ichi Ishiguro


For this year's show, we are honored to welcome Dr. Shin-lchi Ishiguro of Akita, Japan, who was sent to Judge the Los Angeles Show by the Akitainu. Hozonkai Headquarters in Japan. He is also a writer of Akitainu articles in various dog magazines and books in Japan. An interesting sideline is that he was the veterinarian who was called to care for Gorohmoru-Go many years ago.


 Dr. Ishiguro pointed out that there are still a large number of Akitainus in the United States who have undesirable features of the Kongoh Line. These include the faulty head, weak hindquarters and a loose tail. However, the chest and the shoulder angulations are much better than many of the Akitainu dogs in Japan. Many of the Akitainu dogs in Japan still have the frail look with narrow chests, bad shoulder angulations, poor front legs, resulting in poor movement. But the overall appearance
of the head, back, hindquarters and tail are better in general, and are closer to the Akitainu Standard than the Akitainus in the United States.

There were some questions on the wording of the present AKC Standard for the Akitainu that Dr. Ishiguro wanted to have clarified. He questioned the word "blunt" which is used in reference to the head and muzzle. He says this is different from the Akitainu Standard as originally written in Japan.  He also wrote out the following passages from the AKC Standard which describes the neck, tail and color. He feels that these also differ from the Japanese Standard. He has asked to pass the following descriptions among the Akitainu breeders in the United States, especially those who may have been on the standard committee for clarification. For this, he would be most grateful.

1.  Neck - Pronounced crest blends in with base of skull.
2. Tail - Large and full, set high and carried over back or against flank in a 3/4, full or double curl, always dipping to or below level of the back.  On a 3/4 curl, the tip should drop down to the flank.
3. Color - Pinto has a white background with large evenly placed patches covering the head and more than 1/3 of the body.

(The Basics Of The Akitainu by Hiroshi Kuwabara, 2nd Edition)

Dr. Shin-ichi Ishiguro is an Akiho Judge with over twenty-five years of experience with the Akitainu. breed.  He is a practicing veterinarian who travels throughout Japan to attend scientific meetings which are related to his field. He has made at least two trips to the United States, and visited some of the veterinary hospitals in Southern California to observe the techniques and the latest equipment being used in this country.
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