Karafuto-ken pics

BradA1878BradA1878
edited August 2008 in General
I just found a few pics of Karafuto ken on Flickr, thought I would share them:

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more: http://www.flickr.com/photos/90319311@N00/


*looking at their stance and back-end, I think it is safe to say they have a little ancient molosser in their bloodlines

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Comments

  • brandon_wbrandon_w
    edited November -1
    You should elaborate on what a Karafuto is.
  • tsukitsunetsukitsune
    edited August 2008
    beautiful... are there any blood ties to long haired akitas, karafutos and dogs like the greenland dog?

    greenland dog mushers:
  • BradA1878BradA1878
    edited November -1
    There are members that can elaborate more than me [Emilie?, Robert?], but the Karafuto-ken is Japan's only sled dog. They are super rare. That [horrible] Disney movie from a few years back about sled dogs was based on an original movie, that was based on a true story, about Karafuto-ken. The only dogs that survived from the dogs left behind in the true story were Karafuto-ken.

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    I have read, and heard, and people speculate that the Karafuto-ken and/or the Greenland dog [and therefore the Inuit dog too] is the source of the long hair Akita. But I cannot attest to that being a fact - Emilie could probably provide more info on this subject too. :o)

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  • BradA1878BradA1878
    edited November -1
    Also, Robert posted a bunch of great Karafuto-ken pics a while ago to this thread.

    They are really amazing looking dogs - I would LOVE to own one some day - tho that is HIGHLY unlikely to ever happen. :oT

    I don't even think there is a standard for the Karafuto - tho I could be wrong.

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  • BradA1878BradA1878
    edited August 2008
    ok, just aggregating some info....

    This is what Robert [ktrebor] posted to the other thread:

    The only one true Japanese sled dog, this dogs were used during Japanese Antarctica expedition. Comes from Sakhalin and Kouriles Islands, there are two dog types long and short haired, they are sometimes called Kuriru Ken, Etorofu Ken or in English Sakhalin Husky.

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  • glacierglacier
    edited November -1
    I'd just love to have one...
  • okironokiron
    edited November -1
    Aww they're like a giant teddy bear!!! <3
  • StaticNfuzzStaticNfuzz
    edited November -1
    Gosh they are beautiful!

    Snf
  • SangmortSangmort
    edited November -1
    I second Rina! Giant teddy bears :) They look extra-huggable haha

    I really love that 4th picture...there's just something really sincere about it that makes it a really lovely picture.~
  • baantonbaanton
    edited November -1
    Wow--- didn't know such dogs exist, but thanks for sharing. They look like really cool dogs --- Malamute any relation?
  • TheWalrusTheWalrus
    edited November -1
    Awesome teddy bears... there are still dogs up in the north of Hokkaido that the locals call Karafuto ken, but it's generally agreed that they're not the same 'breed' as the originals. Karafuto is actually Japanese for Sakhalin, so the literal translation is 'Sakhalin dog'. There's very little known about them, but there was a book that a Japanese professor from Hokkaido University wrote years ago that had a section in there on them. From what I remember, in the early 1900s when Japan ruled Sakhalin, they brought the dogs to Hokkaido and started a breeding program to train them as pack animals and sled dogs. There were never that many of them, and their numbers were seriously depleted during WW2 (like most Japanese breeds). They seem to have slowly died out in the years following, so the only 'true' Karafuto ken are the ones still in Sakhalin. There are a few that have been imported to Japan from breeders there, and are probably the closest thing to the original Karafuto ken.
  • BradA1878BradA1878
    edited November -1
    That first dog really does look like a teddy bear, doesn't he. lol

    Thanx for the info TheWalrus!

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  • Chanur AkitaChanur Akita
    edited November -1
    brada1878 said:"Karafuto-ken and/or the Greenland dog [and therefore the Inuit dog too] is the source of the long hair Akita"
    It's probably, but no prouve actually.

    TheWalrus: Excellent information! thanks! ^_^

    About Karafuto ken, this a "google translation" french/english, hope you understund.
    I write that on my website :

    "I decided to talk about a little-known race, which fascinates me the last few years, and I want to make its letters of nobility. Maybe one day I would have the pleasure of seeing these dogs true, see import in France ... a dream! In the meantime, I make the most of research into this race, and I complete this page as time ... EMILIE ^ ^ _ and Chanur Team

    We all remember a wonderful film, sad, broadcast in 80 years: ANTARTICA.
    This film follows the adventures dog sled, especially Taro and Jiro, left to themselves in the far north pending the return of their masters ...

    While most spectators think seeing Husky Crusader or the like, this Japanese film directed by Koreyoshi Kurahara depicts the KARAFUTO KEN.

    the only dog sledge Japanese!

    It is a spitz-type dogs, related to Japanese spitz as the AKITA INU, whose size varies between 56 and 66 cm tourniquet. (pour un poids variant de 30 à 40 Kg) (weighing 30 to 40 Kg)

    The ears are small, pointed, sometimes leaning slightly forward, sometimes falling.
    The KARAFUTO KEN can be all colors, united or pinto, red to black through their nuances.

    The hair is fine and thick with a hair under very dense, similar to the hair of the dog Eskimo greenland.

    The Karafuto ken is a native of Sakhalin Island, but also present at the Hokkaido and the neighbouring islands in the extreme north of Japan.

    Dog sled, the Karafuto ken is also a hunting dog, as often has delivered himself. Ce serais un chien au caractère très endurant! This would be a dog in a very enduring!

    According to a book published in France in 1995 ( "dogs Japanese ed. Vecchi De) there is in Japan a club of Karafuto Ken.
    race is seldom used nowadays, so few farmers in Japan apparently ...



    Photos:
    http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/8195/karafutoken1380bc.jpg

    http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/1207/karafutoinu1gr.jpg

    Anko: http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/7725/ankoblancopiehv0.jpg
    http://donabhan.free.fr/vrais chiens antartica/anko.jpg

    Goro: http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/6994/goroblancau9.jpg

    Deri: http://donabhan.free.fr/vrais chiens antartica/deri.jpg

    Jiro: http://donabhan.free.fr/vrais chiens antartica/jiro.jpg

    Kuma: http://donabhan.free.fr/vrais chiens antartica/kuma.jpg

    etc......
  • lwrothlwroth
    The photos of Karafuto dogs at the top of this thread came from a book I published for a friend; I let Lee Love put them on Flickr as long as the copyright and photographer info stayed with them. Sorry they were left off here: Copyright Dr Toru Kikuchi, from the 1958 Japanese Polar Expedition. A couple of my longcoat Akitas looked like Taro and Jiro and their father, so I was interested to hear from Dr Kimura about a preservation society for them in Japan, though all materials are in Japanese. This was several years ago. @TheWalrus, do you know if there are now many Karafuto in Japan? Are they re-created or as they used to be? I thought they were dogs from native peoples in Sakhalin. Is there any more recent info about them? Last post in the thread is from 2008.
  • jellyfishjellyfish
    Hmm... A little off topic, but when I was little, I played a game called Harvest Moon64 and one of the villagers owned two dogs named Taro and Jiro. I found out a few months ago the reference and I was beyond excited. This is my favorite game ever :)
  • AraksAraks
    @jellyfart the harvest moon games are awesome. And I always end up picking the shiba looking dogs compared to the floppy eared ones in the games lol
  • kimputaikimputai
    @Chanur Akita the first picture the dog looks like a JR, and the last two pics, maybe I am wrong, but is there any influence of the GSD and the Chow? I must have some old Karafuto pics somewhere from that expedition.......
  • lwrothlwroth
    @kimputai, I'd love to see the photos if you find them. I have all the Kikuchi photos that were in the book my friend wrote. I used to have the color photos by Kikuchi from that expedition as a web page, but it's gone and I don't know how to search for disappeared web pages. I put them on a disk at one time but don't think I have it anymore. Chanur Akitas kindly sent me a disk with many photos etc that she'd collected.
  • lwrothlwroth
    When I saw the photo of Anko in a website referenced above, Anko: , I thought I must have had the last remaining Karafuto ;-) :

    Zoori
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