The Akita
Origin: The Akita was named after his Homeland, the prefecture Akita in the northern part of Japan, surrounding the town Odate, which up until today is still referred to as the „Dog town“. The often, but unnecessarily used affix Inu simply means „dog“. Every other Race originated in Japan also uses the names of their Homeland – Shiba, Hokkaido, Kishi, Kai, Tosa etc. – and all of them, except the Tosa are from the family of the Spitz-Dog and therefore under FCI Standard belong to the „Dogs of the Prototype“. The Akita is the largest of the Japanese Spitz. Odate – Akita-Präfektur There are many assumptions and opinions about the evolution of the Akita, one of the best known is, that large dogs from the „high North“ came to Japan with Migrants from the Asian Continent and mixed with the existing middle-sized Japanese dogs. On the other side is the notion that dogs similar to the Akita could already be found in prehistoric Japan and did not at all d...