A stuffed toy keychain limited to Akita Prefecture featuring “Chiikawa,” a popular manga and anime character dressed as an Akita dog, has been attracting attention. Chiikawa is the main character of the manga “Chiikawa: Something Small and Cute,” which has been serialized on Twitter by the illustrator Ms. Nagano since […]
Yutaka Kobayashi runs the Kobayashi Sake Shop in Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture. He has an Akita dog named Yumi (two-year-old female), who became popular after a video of her pushing a cart was posted to social media. Mr. Kobayashi said, “I never intended to make Yumi my signature dog, but […]
Kira (11-year-old female) and her daughter Yura (eight-year-old female), who were popular at Akita dog-related events and were exhibit members of the Akita Inu no Sato of the Odate City Visitor Center, have “retired” from their work. The reasons were illness and aging, and they will not appear at events […]
The winter issue of Shi-Ba, a Japanese Dog magazine published by Tatsumi Shuppan (Tokyo) in November last year, featured Akita dogs, including ones from Akita Prefecture, with over 34 pages. According to the magazine’s representative, this is the first-time other dogs except Shiba dogs have been on the cover page […]
Maru (one-year-old female), a brindle Akita dog, lives at the kodomo shokudo (children’s cafeteria) “Maru-chan” in Odate City, Akita Prefecture. She is now struggling to become a signature dog to entertain visitors to the cafeteria. The children’s cafeteria is opened about twice a month by a citizens’ group called “Volunteer […]
Seibundo Shinkosha (Tokyo) has released next year’s calendar full of fluffy and adorable Akita dogs. The photographs featured in the calendar are of the dogs of writer and photographer Yoko Sakamaki, who lives in the Normandy region of France. She captured the innocent expressions of puppies and adult dogs relaxing […]
The Osaka competition for the Wasao Grand Prize, in which long-haired Akita dogs gather to compete for attractiveness, was held in Izumiotsu City, Osaka Prefecture, on March 13. Mosuke (one-year-old male) Akita dog owned by Miiki Kamimori, and his wife, Miaki, both from Sakai City, won the grand prize. Twenty-five […]
When you pet the doll, it makes the realistic noises of an Akita dog. Trend Master (Kawasaki City, President Atsushi Nakata), which manufactures and sells toys and other products, will release a Hachiko model of its stuffed toy “Nade Nade Wan-chan” to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the loyal dog […]
Royal Hotel Odate in Nakamichi, Odate City, Akita, has two Akita dogs, a male named Eito and a female named Hina. The hotel has been keeping them since 2017 at the suggestion of President Hiroshi Nakamura, who said, “As a hotel in the hometown of the famous loyal dog Hachiko, […]
The French Club of the Akita Dog Preservation Society held its first “Club Exhibition,” a contest for the appearance of Akita dogs, in France this month. Writer and photographer Yoko Sakamaki, who herself raises Akita dogs in the Normandy region of France, reports on the event. On October 9, a […]
Akita Inu (dogs), with their fluffy coat, round eyes, and an adorable tail that curls up, are now famous worldwide. Akita dogs have a strong body and are best known for their loyal personality. The number of Akita dogs raised overseas continues to increase. In Akita Prefecture, the Akita dog's birthplace, there is an active movement to utilize them for tourism promotion. Akita Sakigake Shimpo, entitled "Akitainu News," will circulate various domestic and international information about Akita dogs. The goal is to connect the world and Akita through Akita dogs.
