Shiba Inu Information & Dog Breed Facts

The Shiba Inu’s history goes back thousands of years, and it can be traced back to Japan’s Joman period, which dates all the way back to 7000 BC. According to historians, the ancestors of the Shiba Inu were owned by the Jomonjin or Rope-Pattern people. However, there have been disagreements about whether the breed arrived in Japan from northern Asia or Korea, but most experts agree that the breed has descended from dogs that accompanied people who arrived in the first or second major migration to Japan. This also proves that the Shiba has been present in Japan between 2300 and 10000 years, which makes the breed not only the smallest of Japan’s six original and distinct spitz breeds but also its oldest. Moreover, even Japan’s oldest historical document, called the Sihon Shoki (The Chronicles of Japan) notes the importation of dogs from the Asian continent and it also indicates that these dogs were often used for hunting in the underlying brush in the mountains of Japan. According to the National Geographic, Shibas are also genetically similar to wolves, further proving the point that it is among the oldest domesticated dog breeds.

Furthermore, outside influences did not really have any impact on japan for centuries because the country had closed itself off and effectively kept native dogs relatively pure and true to their original selves. However, by the end of Japan’s Tokugawa period, which lasted from 1603 until 1867, everything has changed. An American naval officer, called Admiral Perry, arrived with gunship, and Japan was forced to enter the global community. Foreigners started to export other breeds to Japan and Japanese enthusiasts enjoyed the new breeds at the expense of their own native breeds. This shows how western influence was one reason why the original Shiba Inu started to become diluted from crossbreeding. Only some rural regions still maintained the integrity of the breed as these areas had less access to foreign dogs.

Inu, of course, is the Japanese word for dog, but where the word “Shiba” came from is still being debated. Shiba actually means “brushwood” in Japanese, red-colored vegetation common in the areas where the Shiba hunted, often by Samurai during the period of the Kamakura Shogunate. On the other side, it has also been suggested that “Shiba” may have meant “small” in an obsolete dialect and that the breed was named for its small size. Whichever is the right answer, the name ‘Shiba Inu’ was officially coined in Japan in the 1920’s. At that time there were not many Shibas left in the original form but a number of Japanese dog lovers acted up to save the breed from extinction. Not so much later in 1928 the NIPPO, the Association for the Preservation of the Japanese Dog, was created by Dr. Hiroyo Saito. In the next three years, the NIPPO successfully campaigned the Japanese government to designate the Akita Inu as a Japanese National Monument. In 1936 the NIPPO achieved its goal in getting the Shiba Inu declared a Japanese National Monument as well. Unfortunately just like among other breeds, many Shiba Inu died during World War II in bombing raids. After the war ended, many breeding programs were re-established using those dogs that survived in remote rural areas. The remnants of the various bloodlines were combined to produce the breed as we know it today.

According to sources, the first Shibas entered the US in the 1950s who went with the military returning from Japan. However, it was not until 1993 that the breed gained recognition by the American Kennel Club, and since that time the breed has become increasingly popular.