Hokkaido (dog) - History

History

The Hokkaido is thought to have its roots in the Matagi-ken （Japanese:マタギ犬）（hunting dog, Bear hunting dog, Deer hunting dog） a breed brought by the Ainu people from the Tohoku region in the Jōmon period. The later Yayoi people brought a different breed to the Tohoku, but the isolation of Hokkaido led to its line of Jōmon dog having the least influence from the Yayoi.

In 1869, the English zoologist Thomas W. Blankiston gave the breed the name Hokkaido.

The breed was useful in the search for survivors of an Army expedition that was caught in heavy snow crossing the Hakkōda Mountains of Aomori Prefecture in 1902.

In 1937, the Ainu dog was designated in Japan as "a rare species protected by law" by the Ministry of Education and it was decided that the official name of the breed would be Hokkaido-Inu. However, the dogs are almost always called Hokkaido-Ken among the Japanese people.

In 2007, Japanese telecom company SoftBank began using a white Hokkaido named Kai-kun (カイくん?) in its commercial campaigns for their White Plan where he stars as "Father" (お父さん, Otōsan?) or Jiro Shirato (白戸 次郎, Shirato Jirō?), the patriarch of the Shirato family, with his wife portrayed by Kanako Higuchi, children portrayed by Aya Ueto and Dante Carver, and mother portrayed by Ayako Wakao; Father's speaking voice is provided by Kin'ya Kitaōji. The commercial series won the 2008 ACC Grand Prix Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Award.