Shiba inu and samurai: what history actually says

Part 1

What people mean by "shiba inu samurai"

What is documented is a hunting connection: during the Kamakura Shogunate, samurai and hunters used the breed to track down small game. What is documented is a hunting connection between shiba inus and the samurai class.

The shiba inu's appearance resembles other Japanese breeds like the akita, but it is a distinct breed with its own bloodline, temperament, and smaller size. The akita is the largest of the Japanese spitz-type breeds, while the shiba inu is the smallest of the six native Japanese dogs. The two breeds look similar, but they have a different bloodline, a different temperament, and a different size.

Memes built around shiba inus, including the dog known as Doge, made the breed globally recognisable. If you keep your dog's own history in mind, it helps to separate the documented hunting role from the guard-dog story that circulates online.

Part 2

How old is the shiba inu breed

The shiba inu's ancestry reaches back to the Jomon period, a stretch of Japanese prehistory dated from roughly 14,500 to 300 BCE. Dogs are thought to have arrived in Japan with early inhabitants during this period, and archaeologists have found small dog remains from Jomon sites that resemble the modern shiba inu. That timeline puts the breed's roots long before the Kamakura Shogunate, the samurai-era period running from 1190 to 1603.

Historically, the shiba inu was bred to hunt. It flushed birds and small game such as rabbits out of dense brushwood in Japan's mountainous terrain, and it was occasionally used against larger game like wild boar. Its name, shiba inu, is usually translated as brushwood dog, a reference to the terrain it hunted in or to a coat colour that resembles autumn brushwood.

Part 3

Dogs and the samurai class in feudal Japan

One documented link between dogs and the samurai class covers the Kamakura Shogunate, dated from 1190 to 1603. During this period, samurai and hunters used the shiba inu to hunt small game, valuing its slight frame as a hunting companion.

Later, in the Edo period, dogs in Japan became popular well beyond hunting, and some accounts describe a shogun who was famously fond of dogs.

Among the six native Japanese breeds, the akita is the largest and the shiba inu the smallest.

Part 4

Why the shiba inu nearly disappeared

The shiba inu's population fell sharply during the Meiji Restoration, when Japan reopened to foreign trade and began importing Western dog breeds. Crossbreeding with these imported dogs diluted the native lines, and by the 1920s pure shiba inus had become rare.

World War Two brought a second threat to the breed. Bombings and food shortages reduced numbers badly, and a distemper outbreak after the war killed off much of what remained.

Breeders rebuilt the population after the war by working with the surviving bloodlines from these regions. Modern pedigree records for the breed trace back to a single male dog born in 1948. Preservation groups, including the Nihon Ken Hozonkai, guided this recovery, and if you own a shiba inu today, its lineage traces back to that postwar stock.

Part 5

How the shiba inu became a national symbol

In 1936, the shiba inu was designated a Natural Monument of Japan under the Cultural Properties Act.

A shiba inu named Kabosu became the face of the Doge meme, which later inspired the cryptocurrency Dogecoin.

When you read about your own dog's history, it helps to notice which claims come with a date and place attached, and which do not.