Famous shiba inu in history: notable dogs and their stories

Part 1

Where the shiba inu breed comes from

The shiba inu is one of Japan's oldest dog breeds, and its ancestors may have arrived with early settlers around 7000 BC. By the 10th century, shibas were used as hunting dogs and companions to samurai in Japan's mountainous regions, tracking small game like rabbits and birds. The name shiba inu means brushwood dog, a nod to the terrain the dogs hunted in and to their coat color. The breed is the smallest of six native Japanese dog breeds, which also include the larger Akita. Modern shibas still show the same alertness and hunting drive their ancestors needed to track game through thick brush.

• The Shinshu Shiba came from Nagano Prefecture and had mostly red coats.
• The Mino Shiba came from Gifu Prefecture and had pointed tails.
• The San'in Shiba came from Tottori and Shimane Prefectures and was larger, with a mottled black coat.

The shiba inu nearly went extinct twice. The first threat came during Japan's Meiji and Taisho eras, when Western dog breeds were imported and bred with native dogs, thinning out purebred lines. The second threat came during and after World War Two, when food shortages, bombings, and a distemper outbreak sharply reduced Shiba numbers. Breeders rebuilt the breed after the war by combining three surviving regional bloodlines, the Shinshu, Mino, and San'in shibas. The Nihon Ken Hozonkai, a Japanese dog preservation society founded in 1928, helped standardize the breed, and in 1936 it was declared a natural monument of Japan. The breed reached the United States when a military family brought a shiba inu home in 1954, and the American Kennel Club recognized the breed in 1992.

Part 2

Kabosu: the face behind the Doge meme

If you have seen the Doge meme, you have seen Kabosu, a shiba inu from Japan. Kabosu was one of a group of shiba inus sent to a shelter after a puppy mill closed, and she was rescued while many of the other dogs were not. A kindergarten teacher named Atsuko Sato adopted her in 2008 and named her after a citrus fruit, because a shelter volunteer thought her round face resembled it. In 2010, Sato posted a photo of Kabosu on her blog, and the image later spread across sites like Tumblr and Reddit with captions in broken English. Her blog was ranked as the fourth most popular pet-related blog in Japan by December 2013.

By 2013, the picture had become known as the Doge meme, and it went on to inspire the cryptocurrency Dogecoin, whose logo uses Kabosu's face. A non-fungible token of the meme image sold for four million dollars in 2021. Kabosu died at home in Sakura, Japan, with Sato, who said Kabosu was calm, kind, and laid back. She died on May 24, 2024, at the age of 18, from leukemia. A memorial service in Sakura drew more than 50 people, including some from the cryptocurrency industry, and the town later added a monument and a manhole cover in her honor.

Part 3

Shiba inus in Japanese art and folklore

The shiba inu is one of six native dog breeds, alongside the Akita, Shikoku, Hokkaido, Kishu, and Kai. In 1936, the breed was declared a national monument of Japan. If you own a shiba inu, you may recognize the traits breed clubs describe: an alert, independent, and intelligent dog that can also be stubborn. The breed's foxlike appearance has endeared the shiba inu to people for generations.

Part 4

Shiba inus who became internet celebrities

Maru, a shiba inu, built a following of more than two million people on Instagram and was ranked the third most-followed dog on the platform. Kabosu's fame was different from many internet-famous pets, since it was never used for sponsorships or branding deals the way some other well-known animals were.

Part 5

What sets the shiba's fame apart from other Japanese breeds

The shiba inu is often compared to the Akita, another native Japanese breed, though the two are different breeds, with distinct bloodlines, temperament, and size. Akitas are the largest of Japan's native breeds, while the shiba inu is the smallest. A photo of Kabosu spread across the internet and became a meme, later inspiring the Dogecoin cryptocurrency logo.