Considering it costs over $2000 to buy a pet quality Akita from a pet store here in Japan and I've seen show quality Akita go for $5000 or more I don't think you were ripped off. Keep in mind that show quality Shiba and Akita tend to sell for more than the medium sized breeds do.
To answer your question, in general, you're getting better breeding experience ( depending on the breeder of course) and better breeding pairs as there are more dogs to select from in Japan.
My dog is from Shirai Kennel and Mr. Shirai has decades upon decades of breeding experience which is why his dogs continue to win many awards and championships. His dogs sell from anywhere between $5-6,000 usd - $??
Unfortunately for many breeders overseas, they do not have as many dogs available and accessible to them when they are choosing mates for their bitches. Actually, most of the time it's even really difficult for them to find foundation dogs. The average price of a domestic (US or Canada) Japanese Akita is between $2000-$3000 and $5,000 for a show quality dog. So $3,500 is average here.
Curious, which breeder did you purchase from in Japan???
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My dog is from Shirai Kennel and Mr. Shirai has decades upon decades of breeding experience which is why his dogs continue to win many awards and championships. His dogs sell from anywhere between $5-6,000 usd - $??
Unfortunately for many breeders overseas, they do not have as many dogs available and accessible to them when they are choosing mates for their bitches. Actually, most of the time it's even really difficult for them to find foundation dogs. The average price of a domestic (US or Canada) Japanese Akita is between $2000-$3000 and $5,000 for a show quality dog. So $3,500 is average here.
Curious, which breeder did you purchase from in Japan???